


Love Bites

by orphan_account



Series: Love bites [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Middle School, Christmas, Crushes, I'm not sorry, M/M, Russia is a perfect bean, Sleepovers, a couple people don't really show up much sorry, centered around America, first fic I'm sorry, guess I should mention that he's kinda the bottom, help me i'm dying, jk they're in middle school you idiot, lol sorry, no smut tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2020-12-21 10:31:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 52,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21073439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Alfred and Ivan have been rivals since first grade, but when Alfred screws up, they wind up practically best friends. As you can imagine, Alfred is a bit flustered, especially since he just figured out his crush on Ivan. Now, they're stuck doing a project together, and Ivan is just way too nice. Alfred can barely contain himself at this point. Poor guy.I have no idea what I'm doing sorry





	1. Friends?

Alfred sat in his seat, swinging his legs back and forth. He loved these chairs. They were taller than the ones from kindergarten, making him and his friends have to climb into them. He was enjoying first grade so far. Math was pretty fun, and his teacher, Mrs.Woodward, said that his handwriting was improving. He beamed at his best friend, Arthur, who had his legs crossed ‘like a gentleman’ as he put it. Arthur smiled back at Alfred, messy blonde hair covering his green eyes a bit, but soon turned away to yell at Francis, who had been poking Arthur’s side for the last 10 minutes. Alfred turned his attention back to the front of the room as Mrs. Woodward began to speak.  
“Alright class, we have a new student today!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly. She lowered one of her hands towards the door, which was open just and inch. The class could see a child shifting about on the other side. “Please give a warm welcome to Ivan!” she called. The child stayed where he was. The class was silent. Mrs.Woodward chuckled. “Now, don’t be shy, dear! We’re all friendly here, and I’m sure my class will love you!”  
Ivan shuffled into the class, followed by a girl a little bit taller than him who was holding his hand. He stopped next to the teacher, eyes pointed towards the ground. The older girl waved at the class with a bright smile and deep blue eyes. Her hair was rather short, an ashen blonde color similar to Ivan’s, with a blue headband that matched her eyes. She wore a navy blue dress with a white bow at the collar. She had white mary janes and socks the same color as the dress. She smiled up at the teacher and then turned her gaze to Ivan. She nudged his side and whispered in accented english, “Come on Ivan! They’re all waiting for you!”  
Alfred stared as the boy began to dig his hands into the fabric of his lilac sweater. Alfred was still a little confused with the pronunciation of the name, it sounding entirely new to him. He frowned at bit, thinking of how he would have to ask the kid to write it down for him. He looked back up as he heard more quiet words of encouragement from who Alfred assumed to be Ivan’s older sister. Ivan took a deep breath and cleared his throat.  
“P-privet, I am Ivan. I-I am new to America and I hope that I will be welcome h-here.” he said, voice thick with an accent Alfred had never heard before. Alfred grinned as the boy turned his eyes up, uncertain violet irises glancing at all the children. Mrs. Woodward and his sister beamed at him and Ivan’s face turned beet red. He instantly buried his face in his cream scarf.   
His sister squeezed his hand and whispered, “Good job Ivan! Mama has taught you well.” Ivan pulled his face out of his scarf a little, revealing a small smile.  
“Spasibo, Katya.” he whispered back, now seeming a little more confident.   
“Would you care to write your name on the board for us?” Mrs.Woodward asked, “And when you finish with that, we can ask some questions, if that’s alright with you.” Ivan smiled at the teacher and nodded, turning toward the board. He grabbed a purple marker and began to write, his letters curlier and neater than Alfred’s.  
Alfred turned to Arthrur with a frown and whispered, “What do you think of the new kid Artie?” Arthur turned to him with a pout. He probably lost the little poke war he and Francis had had before.   
“I think Ivan seems like a decent kid. He wasn’t born in America, so that’s a plus. This place is a putrid, festering shit hole.” Arthur muttered. Alfred gave him a weird look.  
“Do you even know what that means?” he hissed back. Arthur shrugged.   
“Heard my dad say it once, and I’m pretty sure it’s an insult.”  
Alfred rolled his eyes and shook his head, bringing his attention to the white board where Ivan had written his name. Ivan Braginsky. Alfred frowned again. His name was supposed to be pronounced ‘eyevin,’ not ‘eevahn’. Plus, what a weird last name, but Alfred hoped that he could put those two abnormalities aside to become close friends with Ivan. Ivan capped the marker and put it back, turning back towards the class and grabbing his sister’s hand. Ivan reached a hand up to his scarf and pulled it up so it covered his mouth.  
He looked down at his black boots and spoke, “I can a-answer questions now.” He looked up at Mrs.Woodward who responded with a warm smile.   
She turned toward her students, “Remember class, if you have a question, raise your hand,” she said, the grin never leaving her face. At least 10 hands shot up, which was a lot for a group of tired 1st graders. Alfred didn’t pay attention to who asked, or what the question was, just the answer.  
He learned that the girl next to him was in fact his older sister, Katyusha, but she had said they could call her Katya. He also learned that Ivan had a younger sister named Natalia who was in kindergarten right now. Ivan was from Russia, and he was the same age as everyone else, they were in the same grade, after all. His favorite color was purple, unsurprisingly, and he had a cat named koshka. The pet question had come from Matthew, Alfred’s twin brother. The question had startled Alfred, who had forgotten Matthew was even here.  
They found out that Katya was here because Ivan had wanted her for moral support on the first day. Katya wouldn’t be here tomorrow, which upset a few of the kids who had become quite fond of her, Francis included for some reason. Eventually the questions ended and they focused on getting Ivan settled into his new class. Ivan took his seat, which was on the other side of Francis. Alfred was ecstatic, they were fairly close together, so it would be easier to get close and befriend him.  
Most of the class they worked on getting Ivan accustomed to the way their classroom ran. He seemed to adapt rather quickly, which was nice. They got him up to date on what they were working on, and then the class was good to go. Mrs.Woodward still decided to make it a lazy day for Ivan. Soon lunch rolled around, and Mrs.Woodward needed someone to help Ivan with the lunch routine here. Alfred’s hand, of course, shot up, he desperately wanted to befriend Ivan, and he knew this would be the perfect opportunity.  
Alfred’s hand had been the first to go up, and he had been the most enthusiastic, so Mrs.Woodward had picked him. Alfred beamed at Ivan, who blushed and buried his face in his scarf in return. When Mrs. Woodward told the class to line up for lunch, Alfred leapt out of his chair and grabbed Ivan’s hand.   
“I’m Alfred! But you probably already know that, Mrs.Woodward and all,”Alfred said excitedly. Alfred grinned as vibrant blue eyes met timid violet. Ivan gave a small, nervous smile in return. He trotted along after Alfred, who was sprinting over to get a spot towards the front of the line.  
Mrs Woodward decided it would be best if Ivan was near the front, this way he could learn how it works and then find a nice spot to sit in the lunchroom. Alfred promised Ivan that they would sit together. The children marched out of their classroom, heading over to the cafeteria. Ivan gripped Alfred’s hand, as well as Katya’s. He walked in between them with a tiny grin. The class entered the lunchroom, which already had a couple classes eating their lunches. Alfred ran over to the lunch line, Ivan in tow. Katya had a packed lunch with her, so she waited by Mrs.Woodward for them to come get her and show her where to sit.  
Alfred showed Ivan how to scan his finger and how you had to grab your milk and spork before grabbing your tray. Today was a hamburger, one of Alfred’s favorite lunches. They left the line and Katya skipped over to them, lunchbox swinging by her side. Alfred was already shoving the damp and flavorless crinkle cut fries into his mouth. He gave the siblings a smile before gesturing for them to follow him. He ran over to his usual table with all his current friends. Alfred dropped his tray down before patting the spot next to him for Ivan. Ivan sat down next to him and Katya flopped down on Ivan’s other side.  
Alfred waved a hand at his friends while taking a huge bite if his burger, “These are all my best friends! You’ll love them, I’ll introduce them,” he said, mouth now full of fries as well.   
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Alfred,” Arthur scowled.   
Alfred swallowed and grinned at him, “That one’s Arthur, he’s like my big brother!” Alfred turned to Ivan again, “You probably won’t like him though, he can be a real meanie.” Ivan giggled as Arthur yelled at Alfred. Alfred laughed too before taking a sip of his chocolate milk. Katya gave Ivan a piece of her food, Alfred had no idea what it was (probably something russian, but he didn’t feel like asking), he was just a little upset that Ivan wasn’t trying his burger.  
He took his mind off of Ivan disrespecting the burger by introducing the rest of his friends. He patted Ivan’s head before pointing to the next friend, “That one’s Francis, he’s a year older than us, but he didn’t get held back or anything, his mom just did a weird thing so he’s here,” he grinned. Ivan was clearly confused, Alfred’s explanation was incredibly vague, but he tried to move on from that. Francis flipped his shoulder length blond hair before taking Ivan’s hand and kissing it. “Bonjour, mon amour,” he cooed, causing Ivan to blush bright red.  
Arthur hit Francis on the back of his head, “I doubt you even know what that means, frog!” Arthur hissed.   
“I’m french, espèce d’idiot!” he wailed, rubbing his head.  
Alfred grinned, leaning closer to Ivan and whispering, “They fight like an old married couple!” Ivan giggled again, pulling his scarf up to cover his nose. Alfred’s grin widened as he leaned away to introduce the rest of his friends. Alfred looked up as another two trays were added to the table. He grinned as Feliciano waved at Ivan, ditzy smile ever present on his face. Lovino was with him and had his usually scowl on his face, the anger on his expression increased when he saw there were two other people at the table. His frown disappeared the second he realised one of them was a lady.  
He blew a kiss to Katya, “Ciao, bella!” he cooed. Katya looked confused and Ivan frowned. He tugged on Alfred’s sleeve.   
Alfred turned to him, “Who are they?” Ivan whispered in his thick accent.   
Alfred pointed to Feliciano, “He’s Feliciano, but you can call him Feli,” he pointed to Lovino, “He’s Feli’s older brother, Lovino.” Ivan frowned again.  
“I would like for Lovino to leave my sister alone,” he grumbled.   
Alfred laughed, patting Ivan shoulder, “Don’t worry, bud! Lovi’s always like that around girls!” Ivan gave him a small smile before returning to eat the food Katya had given him. Alfred turned away again, more friends for him to introduce.   
Ivan turned with him, eager to learn everyone’s names. Alfred grinned at seeing Ivan’s excitement.   
He pointed at another boy, this one with white hair, “That’s Gilbert, he’s also a year older, but the all the kids eat lunch together, so he sits with his brother, Ludwig,” he said, pointing to a blond boy in between Feliciano and Gilbert. Gilbert grinned and waved enthusiastically while Ludwig just gave a small nod in acknowledgement.   
“Don’t take Luddy’s behavior the wrong way, he’s just really shy!” Gilbert beamed, causing Ludwig to blush.   
Alfred pointed to two asain boys, “That’s Kiku and Yao, Kiku’s from Japan! Isn’t that cool?! And Yao is from China, he likes hello kitty!” Kiku waved and Yao crossed his arms and grinned. Finally, Alfred gestured to the boy he was sitting next to, “And this is my twin brother, Matthew. Sometimes I forget he’s there, but he’s super cool, got a stuffed bear and he likes Pancakes!” Alfred kicked his legs, “There’s a few other friends I have, like Elizaveta and Roderich, um, Tolys, sometimes Antonio sits with us, but that’s just cuz he has a crush on Lovino.” he said, grinning at Ivan.  
Ivan nodded his head before taking a small bite of his hamburger. He chewed slowly and Alfred watched closely, waiting for his reaction. Ivan swallowed, “Do you like it?” Alfred asked excitedly.   
Ivan gave his new friend a smile before responding, “Da, is pretty good.”   
Alfred beamed, “Wahoo! I knew I was right! The new kid is awesome!” he shouted, throwing his arms into the air. Ivan blushed and buried his face in his scarf while Katya giggled and Arthur rolled his eyes. “New best friends!” Alfred cried, throwing his arm around Ivan’s shoulder, who grinned at Alfred and nodded his head with a small giggle.

OwO  
Alfred threw his jump rope to the ground, running over to Ivan, who sat by Francis and Aruthr, drawing with chalk. He flopped down next to Ivan and admired how good at drawing he was. Ivan was drawing sunflowers all over the blacktop, while Francis was drawing roses, and Arthur frogs and rabbits. “So, new best bud, how’re you likin America?” he asked, crossing his legs and leaning forward to get a better few of the flowers being drawn.   
“It is very nice. I like how it is warmer here, but I still miss home. I think Russia will always be better than America, so right now this is the best I can get.” he muttered, trying to focus on his drawings.  
Alfred’s head shot up, as well as Francis’s and Arthur’s, who knew how passionate Alfred was about his country. Alfred scowled, “What did you just say?” he hissed. Ivan looked up, confused.   
“Was I too quiet? I said, Russia will always be better than America-” Alfred leapt up, pointing and accustitory finger at his pale companion.   
“There! Did you really just say Russia will always be better than America?!” he shouted. Ivan nodded his head, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.   
“Da, I did. What, do you think America is better?” he asked, frown spreading across his face.   
Alfred nodded his head vigorously, “Of course I do! Because it is!”  
Ivan stood and took a step towards Alfred, frown deepening. Suddenly, it felt as if the temperature had dropped a few degrees. At the same time Arthur and Francis inched away, glancing towards Katya, who was too busy chatting with the teacher to notice the fight about to happen. A few more children noticed the change in temperature, turning toward the two boys. Alfred crossed his arms and Ivan folded his hands behind his back, a cold smile spreading across his face, causing many children to shiver. Alfred scowled again and looked down at the sunflowers beneath his feet. A sly grin found its way onto his face. He stared up Ivan, vibrant blue eyes clashing with violent purple. Alfred’s grin turned into one so very smug as he spat on the sunflowers, followed by him slamming his sneaker onto the spit and dragging it slowly across the pavement, destroying all the beautiful chalk drawings it passed over.   
Ivan’s violet eyes followed Alfred’s foot as it ruined all his hard work, smile becoming more forced and cold by the second. The mask finally cracked when Alfred spat on the ground again, directly onto the single sunflower he missed. Ivan’s face was one of pure rage as he lunged at Alfred. Alfred screeched in fear, throwing his hands out in front of himself, squeezing his eyes shut. This decision was a very bad one, as Ivan had been looking for something to bite. Violet eyes locked onto Alfred’s hand as he lunged. He opened his mouth. He bit down. Alfred screamed.   
Alfred desperately tried to pull away, but Ivan had clamped down and was not letting go anytime soon. Alfred’s tugging caused the skin to rip even more than it had already. Blood poured from the wound, splashing into and around Ivan’s mouth. Ivan wrapped his arms around Alfred’s, clinging to him so Alfred wouldn’t get away. Alfred continued to scream.  
Seconds later, then were torn apart by Mrs. Woodward and Katya, Ivan taking a chunk of Alfred’s skin with him. Ivan coughed Alfred’s blood up, spitting it onto the ground. The blood continued to pour from Alfred’s hand, splattering across the blacktop. Ivan gagged and threw up from the metallic taste of Alfred’s blood. Alfred continued to scream. Mrs. Woodward ushered him inside to treat his wound, she hoped it wouldn’t leave a scar. Ivan continued to puke on his last sunflower, Katya patting his back. Feliciano fainted.


	2. Watch Your Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> middle school time yaaaaayyyy

Alfred glared at the scar on his hand. He continued to doodle little flowers around the edge of his paper before stabbing his pencil through it. He looked up and glared at the back of Braginsky’s head. Fucking Braginsky. Alfred hated Braginsky. Jackass had to go and bite him when all Alfred wanted was to be friends. What a dick. Ever since that day, Alfred and Braginsky had been fighting every ten minutes. Well, ever since third grade, but that’s a story for another day. Right now what mattered was how Braginsky had tripped Alfred during gym class. Normally gym was fun, but he and Braginsky had basically every class together. Fuck seventh grade. God, he was losing his mind, but at least he had all his classes with Kiku, his best friend. The role formerly filled by Arthur, but then he had to go and be a possessive dick when Alfred told him about his old crush on Tolys. But that was in the past, Arthur was still his friend, just not his best friend, he would never be as dependable as Kiku.

He tapped his pencil on the desk, glancing at the clock. Man, he was hungry. Having B lunch was nice and all, extra food, Y’know, but god was he hungry. Alfred was pretty fond of this teacher, Mr. Williams, because of the fact that he let the kids sit where they wanted, pretty much letting the kids pick their own assigned seats. He turned and grinned at Kiku, who sat next to him. Kiku smiled back, though his smile was much smaller, typical for Kiku who chose to show as little emotion as possible. Alfred took Kiku returning his smile as a chance to complain. “Man, Keeks, I’m starving! Do you know when this period ends, like, how much time do we have left?” he whined. Kiku smiled again, “You ask that everyday, Alfred, but I’ll tell you. We have about 5 minutes left.” he said, closing his notebook and writing his name at the top of his worksheet. Alfred grinned, throwing his hand into the air, “Oh yeah! Almost lunch time!” he shouted. His grin disappeared when he heard Braginsky snicker behind him.

“Of course you would be so excited about food, Alfred. You can’t get enough, always stuffing your face full at lunch. Maybe that's why you’re so fat, ever thought about that?” he cooed, voice dripping with venom. Alfred scowled, yes he was insecure about his weight and yes he hated it when Ivan made fun of him for it. He turned his attention to Ivan, who had turned around in seat to tease Alfred. It infuriated Alfred how dedicated Ivan was to insulting him, going as far as to do the stereotypical bully thing and put sticky notes with insults written on them for Alfred to find.

“What was that, Ruski? Couldn’t hear you over the sound of my amazing-ness,” Alfred replied, cocky grin plastered across his face.  
  
Ivan rolled his eyes, “I said, you are incredibly fat, тупица.” 

Alfred smirked, “Oh, sorry. I thought you were talking about yourself. My mistake!” he chuckled. Kiku squirmed in his seat as the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. He gave Alfred a pleading look, to which Alfred responded with an apologetic smile. Alfred turned back to his rival, who’s expression was growing darker by the second.

Alfred was suddenly feeling less confident, and shivered at Ivan’s expression. He was regretting his life choices in this moment, but luckily he was saved by the bell. Mr. Williams waved as the children ran from the room, eager to get to lunch. Alfred was in the front of the rest of the children, sprinting as fast as he could away from Ivan, who was chasing him as this point. Alfred slid to a stop in front of his locker, shoving himself into the children gathered around struggling with their combinations. Ivan stopped behind the kids, but went unnoticed. He grumbled about nothing as he walked away. Alfred leapt out of the small crowd grinning. He spun around and began to work on opening his locker. Kiku appeared beside him holding his lunchbox. 

Alfred threw open his locker, Kiku dodged the door, used to Alfred’s obnoxious behavior. He shoved his stuff inside before slamming it shut. He turned to Kiku with a grin before running down the hall to his brother’s locker, Kiku following at a much slower pace. Alfred nearly ran into his brother, who was standing by Francis, waiting for him to finish putting his things away. Alfred pitied Francis, who had the misfortune of being a bottom locker, along with Arthur. Out of the corner of his eye, Alfred could see Ivan closing his locker. Braginsky turned in his direction, shifting from foot to foot beside Tolys. Alfred narrowed his eyes, once again being reminded how Ivan was an inch taller than him. Ivan’s head reached about ¾ of the way to the top of the lockers, able to easily put things on top of the lockers while Alfred had to stretch his arm a bit. He scowled as Ivan began to rock back and forth on his feet, talking to Tolys who gave him an apologetic smile. Ivan crossed his arms as Feliks walked over and began poking Toyls’s arm. Tolys finally finished putting away his things and the three walked down the hall, meeting up with Eduard and Ravis.

Ivan grinned at his friends and laughed at something Tolys said, causing Alfred to growl. It was Alfred’s opinion that Ivan wasn’t allowed to be happy. His attention was brought back to his friends as Francis threw his locker shut, leaping up. “Come on, mon amie!” he cried, yanking on Alfred’s arm, “They’re serving salisbury steak today!” Alfred’s head snapped forward and he sprinted towards the end of the 7th grade hallway. Salisbury steak! Hell yeah! Matthew, Kiku, and Arthur trailed behind Alfred and Francis. They came screeching to a halt in the back of the lunch line. They glanced over at their table, seeing Kiku opening up his lunch box and Ludwig just now dropping his tray down beside him, followed closely by Feliciano. Alfred grinned, turning to his friends to chat.

“Did you see how pissed Braginsky was, Mattie?” he squealed, immensely proud of himself for once again escaping Ivan’s wrath.   
Matthew sighed, used to his brother’s antics.

“Yes, I did. Did you insult his weight again? I know he does that to you a lot, and I know this is one of those overused things, but he really only does that because he’s insecure about his weight too, Alfred.” he said with a shake of his head.

Alfred frowned, resting his fisted hands on his hips, “Hey! He started it! Kiku was there, he can testify!” he grumbled, pointed in the direction of their usual table.

Francis crossed his arms, “Turn around, Alfred! It’s almost your turn.” he yelled, sliding in front of Arthur in line. Alfred spun around to see that, yes, it was almost his turn in line. The kid in front of him scanned his finger. Alfred was bouncing up and down, salisbury steak was his favorite lunch, pizza coming in as a close second. He scanned his finger, grabbing a napkin and wrapping it around his spoon. He grabbed his chocolate milk before grabbing one of the trays with green beans.

He slid past the salad bar, not caring to have applesauce with his food. He ran over and sat across from Kiku at the table, though he would be sliding down more when the rest of his friends came. He grinned and greeted his friends, Kiku responding with a small smile, Ludwig with a nod, and Feli with a huge grin and a “Ciao! Ve~!” Alfred glared at Ivan’s table, where he and his friends sat chatting happily. His glare increased when he noticed Braginsky hadn’t even touched his food, Feliks sliding under his arm and stabbing his spoon into his steak. Ivan caught him, but nodded his approval. Feliks grinned and stole the steak, refusing to share, causing the others to wail. Ivan beamed as Yao sat down across from him. Alfred scowled.

He whipped his head around as someone tapped his shoulder. He gave a sheepish grin and slid over, making room for his friends. Arthur and Matthew sat down to Alfred’s right, while Francis sat down on his left. Gilbert flopped down next to his brother, Antonio next to him, with Lovino sitting beside Francis. The last three were 8th graders, which made Alfred proud. It was considered an honor to have 8th graders willing to sit with you, as they usually kept to themselves and looked down on 7th and 6th graders. 7th graders had a habit of looking down on the 6th graders as well, despite being only a year older. They ate their lunch, chatting happily about nothing. Alfred occasionally sent glares towards Ivan, noting how none of his friends dove in to kill his untouched mashed potatoes. It was moments like these that Alfred was glad for the position of their table. They were placed in such a way the Ivan and his friends had to walk past in order to dump their trays. Perfect for any sort of prank Alfred cooked up, though this was less of a prank and more of just trying to piss off Braginsky.

Alfred paid less attention to the conversation his friends were having and more to Ivan and his table. He stared as Ivan picked at his salad with a frown before downing his milk (he got the normal kind instead of chocolate, what a weirdo). He turned to his friends and kept talking. The lunchroom had a considerably less amount of children in it, so Alfred could just barely make out Braginsky asking if everyone was done. Everyone gave their confirmation and they raised their hands, waiting for permission to dump their trays. Alfred grinned to himself, asking Matthew and Arthur to move for him. They had no idea what he was planning, so they rolled their eyes and moved over, letting Alfred take the end seat. They continued chatting while Alfred stayed silent, staring intently as a teacher nodded their heads at the group, giving his approval. Ivan and his friends stood up, walking towards the trash can, as well as Alfred’s table. He turned back to face Kiku, who was looking at him with an eyebrow raised. Alfred gave him a giddy grin, glancing at Ivan and his companions as they approached.

“Like, oh my god! I can’t believe that you like, totally didn’t even touch your food!” Feliks cried, poking Ivan’s arm with narrowed eyes. Ivan chuckled, “I guess I just wasn’t really hungry today.” he said, not paying attention to where he was walking. Perfect, Alfred thought. He kept facing Kiku as Tolys walked by. In the few seconds between Tolys passing and Ivan passing, Alfred stuck his foot out. Ivan smiled at something Raivis said, not even glancing at Alfred, which, yes, he took offence to. Braginsky opened his mouth to reply to Ravis, but was cut off as he tripped on Alfred’s foot. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Ivan began falling forward, violet eyes opened wide in shock. His salad flew everywhere, bits of lettuce tangling in his ashen blond hair. For some reason, he had decided not to close his milk, which was unfinished. It spilled all over his white cat shirt, (one of many, though this one had a light pink cat silhouette in the center with smaller white ones dotted all over it’s short pink sleeves) milk spreading over onto his lilac sweatshirt (this one also had a cat silhouette, though it was white and was cut in half, thanks to the zipper, currently unzipped) and scarf. The mashed potatoes flew off the plate, splattering onto his cream scarf, which had been Alfred’s main goal. 

Ivan fell to the ground, his tray slamming against his chest before dropping to the floor with a loud CLACK. Everyone froze, instant regret painting Arthur and Matthew’s features. The cafeteria was silent, all remaining students had their eyes glued to Ivan as he slowly sat up. He sat on the ground for a minute, his brain still processing what had just happened. He looked down as his milk soaked into his shirt and scarf, his potatoes slid down his scarf and onto the floor. Small bits of lettuce and carrot slid out of his hair, joining those that had already fallen to the floor. Ivan reached a shaky hand up to his scarf. Tolys practically threw his tray down onto and empty table, kneeling down beside Ivan to help him up. Gilbert and Alfred started laughing, soon to be joined by Lovino and a confused Antonio. Tolys held Ivan’s hand as he stood up on shaky legs, light blue jeans now soaked in milk with potato chunks sliding off his thighs. He stared into Alfred’s eyes, causing Alfred to freeze. Ivan’s violet eyes were wide and watery as he gripped the dirtied fabric of his beloved scarf. His lip quivered and his hands shook as he reached one towards Alfred.  
Ivan took a step toward Alfred on shaking legs, tears brimming. Tolys stopped him, resting a hand on Ivan’s elbow. “We need to get this cleaned up before it dries and ruins the scarf, Ivan.” he whispered. Ivan turned back to his shorter friend, realization dawned on his face. He reached both hands up to grip his scarf, tears finally pouring freely down his cheeks. 

“Oh no! Oh no! No no no no!” he wailed, sprinting over to the bathroom, followed closely by Tolys and Yao, trays forgotten. Feliks grabbed the trays left behind by their friends while Eduard went with a teacher to grab a janitor to help clean up the mess. Raivis grabbed Ivan’s fallen tray.

When he stood he sent Alfred a glare, muttering, “Jerk.” Alfred sat frozen, Gilbert, Lovino, and Anotonio had stopped laughing when they noticed the tears as well. Matthew sighed and shook his head, getting up and leaving with a few of their other friends, not even bothering to raise their hands. Alfred stared at Francis, who sat next to him, loyal enough to stay and help console the upset Alfred. Alfred scowled, not completely understanding what had just happened. Alfred gave Francis a confused look.

Francis sighed and shook his head, “You shouldn’t have done that, Alfred.” Alfred frowned at him, standing up and grabbing his tray.

“Well, you’re no help.” he hissed. Francis gave him an exasperated look before shaking his head again and staring at his peaches. Alfred dumped his tray and ran off to the gym, angry at himself for feeling guilty. He played basketball, being more aggressive than usual. He threw a couple people’s water bottles into the hoop, which made him feel a little better. Kiku came and they sat in the bleachers, chatting about nothing. Alfred was glad that Kiku pretended that the whole Ivan thing hadn’t happened and just talked. Alfred smiled. This was why Kiku was his best friend. Mr.Lewis, the vice principal, blew the whistle and everyone sat in the bleachers.

Alfred grumbled to himself the whole way to band, he usually had Arthur with him, but he wasn’t talking to him. Sure, Mr.Collin was nice, and band was fun, but Alfred just wasn’t feeling it today. When that was over, he walked alone to reading, the last class of the day, which he usually shared with Ivan. He wasn’t there, he heard Tolys telling Raivis that he got picked up from school. He scowled at his notebook, filled with doodles of Ivan. He wanted to burn the thing, realizing how weird this would look to someone who wasn’t aware of their mutual hatred. He lifted up the page and stabbed his pencil through every little face on it. He didn’t move when the bell rang. When he finally got up, it was because Mrs.Maxinimum made him leave. Matthew didn’t talk to him the entire way home, and when he finally did it was to tell him that he was disappointed in him, then silence for the rest of the night. He hoped tomorrow would be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> almost forgot to add that lithuania's name in this is Tolys cuz i think its cooler  
criticise me please mwah mwah


	3. Friends? For real this time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred has the fuzzy happy feeling  
Oh no! Whatever will he do!?

Alfred woke up to the loud BEEP BEEP BEEP of his alarm. He rolled over and slapped his phone screen a couple times before it finally shut off. He rolled over onto his back with a groan. He hated this, waking up early and everything. In tv shows and movies, the kids always got to wake up at like, 7am, but he had to wake up a fucking 5:40am. He wished that television had been more realistic and prepared him for the horror that was waking up early. He crawled out of bed, grumbling all the way. He listened to the sound of water running, rubbing his eyes. His brother was taking a shower. They had come to the agreement that Matthew would wake up about ten minutes before Alfred and take his shower in the morning, while Alfred would take his shower later on in the day. He glared at his brother’s bed, as they did share a room. 

Alfred’s bed was space themed, while Matthew’s was pretty much just Canada themed, the blanket was the Canadian flag, all the pillows were either red or white with a maple leaf the opposite color. Matthew’s stuffed bear, Kumajiro, rested in front of his brother’s mound of pillows. Alfred rolled his eyes, thinking about how Matthew was always talking about how he wanted to move to Canada when he grew up. Alfred threw opened the closet, the one he got to keep while Matthew put all his clothes in the drawers of his large bedside table. Alfred threw his bomber jacket onto his bed, along with dark blue jeans and a Captain America shirt. He dressed in his clothes before running over and grabbing his backpack off the floor and grabbing his phone off of his bedside table. 

Alfred skipped down the stairs as Matthew left the bathroom with a towel held around his waist. Matthew gave him a small wave that Alfred spun around, almost falling down the stairs, to return. Matthew gave a small smile as Alfred stumbled down the rest of the stairs. Alfred threw his backpack onto the couch before running over to the kitchen and popping a toaster strudel into the toaster. He licked his lips while waiting, bouncing up and down before checking the time on his phone, 6:13, they had 17 minutes left. Alfred raised his eyebrows, they had taken longer than he thought. He turned his attention back to his toaster strudel as it popped up out of the toaster. He tore off part of the icing packet before spreading it all over strudel. He heard Matthew sigh and he spun around. There was his brother, unsurprisingly dressed in his usual red hoodie with the white maple leaf in the center, along with his blue jeans. Matthew shook his head, putting his own strudel into the toaster. 

“You have to draw something with it, Al, you can’t just spread it around. Make a pattern,” he said taking Alfred now empty icing packet and throwing it away. Alfred laughed, grabbing his plate and flopping down at the kitchen table. 

“Come on, Mattie! It’s just a toaster strudel!” he chuckled. 

Matthew rolled his eyes, “Yes, but you’re doing it wrong,” he replied, grabbing his now finished strudel and immediately dropping it because of how hot it was. “Ow!” he hissed. Alfred laughed again, causing Matthew to stick his tongue out in his brother’s direction. Matthew drew a bear on his toaster strudel before sitting down across from his brother. By the time they both finished, it was 6:25. 

“Oh, we have 5 minutes!” Alfred squeaked before running over to grab his shoes. He grabbed Matthew’s shoes as well, being the amazing twin brother that he was. The twins put on their shoes and turned off all the lights. Alfred rested his hand on the handle, taking a deep breath. He would have to see Ivan at the bus stop. They lived in the same neighborhood, though Alfred wasn’t sure what house Ivan and his sisters lived in. Matthew had told him once that it was farther into the neighborhood and that you couldn’t see it from their house, but Matthew wasn’t exactly sure which one it was either. Only a few people knew, people like Tolys, Yao, Francis knew because he was also quite close with Ivan, which always bothered him, but Francis was determined to be everyone’s big brother, even if he was in the same grade. He was a year older, and sometimes Alfred could get Francis to spill a little gossip about Ivan, which Alfred would immediately spread around. 

Matthew tapped his shoulder, bringing him out of his thoughts. Alfred gave his brother a smile, which Matthew returned. Alfred threw open the door and ran out, followed by Matthew. Alfred gripped the straps of his superhero backpack, walking down the driveway to the road, where his friends were waiting. He gave them a weak smile, most of them giving forgiving smiles in return. Alfred beamed, glad to have his friends by his side. Alfred, skipped along the road until they reached the bus stop. Arthur, Francis, Matthew, and Kiku chatted with Alfred while waiting for Antonio, as well as the Vargas and Beilschimdt brothers to show up. Alfred looked up from his phone, which he had been using to show pictures to his friends. He saw Ivan walking with his sisters, Katya the sophomore and Natalia the 6th grader, as well as his friends. Alfred sometimes thought that it was wildly convenient that they all lived in the same neighborhood, but didn’t question it most of the time. 

He looked away, awkwardly pretending not to notice him. Alfred glanced back over in their direction, making eye contact with Ivan. Ivan smiled at him, which was weird. He had on a white scarf tied up in a bow, as well as a brown sweater, and black pants and boots. He waved at Alfred and Alfred froze up, not sure what to do. Ivan turned and said something to his companions, Natalia scowling and trying to grab Ivan. Ivan gave her a smile and patted her head before approaching Alfred. Alfred’s friends looked up before parting for Ivan, Francis giving him a warm smile which Ivan returned. Ivan stood in front of Alfred, staring at his feet. He cleared his throat and looked up into Alfred’s azure eyes. 

He gave a smile again before speaking, “It has come to my attention, um, with some help, of course,” he said, glancing to Francis, “that yesterday’s incident might have been partly my fault. I apologize for insulting you like that, and I feel a bit guilty for what I had been planning on doing before Toyls stopped me, so I apologize for that as well.” He shifted from foot to foot, looking down again. When he looked back up, he was blushing furiously. “I, uh, have something for you,” he muttered. He reached into his backpack, mostly white with tiny sunflowers on it and brown on the bottom, pulling out a small white box with a yellow bow on top. He handed it to the flushed Alfred. Alfred gave him a nervous smile, thanking Ivan for the present. Ivan beamed at him, glancing down to his hands, settling into awkward silence. Alfred fidgeted, unsure of what to do from here. When he looked up again, Ivan was smiling at him. Alfred panicked and hugged Ivan, who stayed still in shock for a moment before returning the hug. Alfred was fuming on the inside, upset because of how observant he was being now, of all times. 

Ivan’s sweater was incredibly soft, it felt like a blanket, one of the ones you would fight with your siblings over, you know, the good blanket. The scarf was soft too, smelling like cookies for some reason, but Alfred wasn’t complaining. He guessed Katya or Ivan had made cookies recently, familiar with Katya’s fondness of baking, which Ivan shared. Ivan smelled nice just in general, like the woods in the fall, all crisp and clear with a gentle breeze drifting by. He had accidentally pressed their cheeks together, which he had quickly fixed, but he couldn’t get over how soft and smooth Ivan’s skin had felt against his. He could feel Ivan’s longer hair brushing against his forehead, it felt soft like silk and he desperately wanted to run his hands through it while Ivan rested his head in Alfred’s lap, chest rising and falling in even breaths as he slept. Alfred realized that if he didn’t let go soon he would get lost in the feel of Ivan. 

Alfred let go and looked into Ivan’s exstatic violet eyes. Ivan beamed at Alfred, causing Alfred to flush even more than he already had. Ivan twiddled with the ends of his scarf, Afred just now realizing how damn cute that bow was. 

Alfred’s face was on fire as Ivan spoke, “I think that maybe we should forget our petty rivalry and become friends, we had gotten along so well before our silly argument, I think it could work!” he said enthusiastically. Alfred agreed without hesitation, his brain immediately going to being able to hug Ivan again, as friends do. Ivan grinned at him, causing Alfred to feel a little dizzy. Fuck, Alfred thought, why am I reacting this way because of fucking Braginsky? And did I just agree to be his friend? Fuuuucckkkkk. Ivan bid him farewell and ran over to his older sister, most likely telling her about what had just happened. He felt a weird flutter of his heart as butterflies danced in his stomach. 

Alfred couldn’t get over how adorable Ivan was when he was happy like that, having only ever really seen him angry or sad. His flushed face was beet red as he looked down at the present in his hands. He shoved it into his backpack, deciding to open it later. He heard Matthew snicker as Francis sighed a wistfully. 

“Oh, young love, so beautiful!” he said, causing Matthew and Arthur to burst out laughing. Kiku stayed silent, having not paid attention, preferring to play on his DS. 

Alfred spun around and punched Francis, causing the elder to wheeze, “Shut up Francy Pants! We’re not in love! We’re just gonna be friends now is all! And stop talking like that, you’re only a year older than us!” he hissed. 

Arthur laughed, “Yeah, but you were so happy, you went and hugged the lad! I saw that hug, it was a little bit longer than it needed to be Alfred!” Alfred flushed and scowled at Arthur, who was trying and failing to catch his breath. 

He spun around when he heard Matthew speak up. “And, and, you were so red when he gave you the present! And when you hugged him! And when he asked to be friends! What, are you hoping for something more?” he giggled. Alfred gasped. His own brother! And he was his twin, too! They continued to laugh as Alfred desperately tried to explain himself, but failed miserably. Suddenly, the bus skidded to a halt in front of their stop, causing all the kids to stop what they were doing and run over. Alfred looked around, finally seeing their missing friends sprinting towards the bus, Ludwig and Feliciano were flushed, Gilbert was lagging behind trying to catch his breath, it seemed he had been laughing. Lovino looked like he was going to murder someone, that someone seemed to be Ludwig, who was not only running to the bus, but also running from Lovino. Alfred absentmindedly wondered what Ludwig had done to upset Lovino so much, but brushed the thought away and ran to the bus. He flopped down in his usual seat with Matthew, who continued to tease him. Alfred crossed his arms and ignored his twin, wishing that the day was over already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> criticise me please mwah mwah


	4. Crush?! Dude, hold on, what??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> super rad assignment

The whole day was boring and uneventful, Alfred sat in each of his seats in each different class and thought about Ivan the whole time. He wondered why he had been so flushed after hugging Ivan, and when he had received his gift, which he had yet to open. He decided he would open it at home, it seemed like the best option, no one could see his reaction to whatever was in there. Alfred thought about how nice Ivan smelled, and how soft and smooth his skin and hair were. Unbeknownst to him, he gave a dreamy sigh while staring at Ivan, head propped up with his hand. Matthew snickered, knowing exactly what Alfred was thinking about. Kiku narrowed his eyes at Ivan, not knowing what this new friendship would do to his and Alfred’s friendship. 

Ivan hadn’t sat with him at lunch, probably deciding to tell his other friends the news and chat about it. Alfred guessed Ivan would sit with them on Monday, which was fine with him. Band was boring, but then he stumbled across a surprise in reading. It was the last class of the day, he shared it with Ivan too. They sat closer together in this class than they did in any other. In fact, Ivan sat directly in front of him. He stared at Ivan’s ashen blond hair as it shifted with his every move, but he was brought out of his stupor when Mrs. Maxinimum told they class about the new project they were doing, which would be in partners, assigned partners. Alfred was mostly okay with this, he knew most everyone in the class and were friends with them, so no biggie. She then said that this would be a lot of work, work that would have to be done after school, at each other’s houses. Alfred narrowed his eyes. Excuse me? he thought.

Alfred shifted in his seat as she called out the partners, it seemed that she knew her class well enough to put people who worked well together as partners. Alfred almost died when Kiku was partnered with Heracles, a greek kid who always slept in class. Kiku didn’t seem all that bothered, actually smiling at Heracles, who gave a tired smile back. Alfred was shaking in anticipation, there weren’t that many people left to be partnered, and he was getting a little worried. Ivan was one of the people left unpartnered, and he gave Tolys and Feliks a sad glance. It seemed clear the Ivan had been hoping to be partners with Tolys, but Feliks got to be his partner instead. Ivan’s head shot up when his name was called, huge grin on his face. Alfred blushed, thinking about how he looked like an excited little puppy. Mrs. Maxinimum paused for a second, flipping the page to get to the rest of the partners. 

She smiled at Ivan, “Ivan and Alfred!” she said, before returning to her page with the last few partners listed on it.

Alfred didn’t listen anymore as the color drained from his face. Ivan turned around and smiled at him. Alfred nodded back numbly, not understanding what just happened. Ivan began chatting excitedly about how fun this would be, them working together, getting to go to each other’s houses, maybe they could have a sleepover! Alfred flushed as he thought about sleeping near Ivan. Oh my god, he’s so goddamn soft, I bet he has stupid adorable pajamas. He wondered how Ivan had gone from being such a huge dick, to being this adorable puppy. Alfred was kind of pissed, thinking about how much time they wasted fighting each other. Alfred had alway thought Ivan was this heartless monster, but Ivan was really sweet, so far, at least. 

Mrs. Maxinimum decided it would be best to change seats so the partners could sit together so they could work more easily during class. Alfred was bright red as Ivan sat in the seat next to him, arms pulled close to his chest as he practically squealed in excitement. Alfred once more felt butterflies flutter in his stomach as Ivan wiggled happily in his seat. Alfred admitted that he hadn't really been paying attention to what Mrs. Maxinimum had said about the project, and Ivan agreed to tell him about it later. Alfred was grateful that he didn't share this class with Matthew, who would probably be teasing and making fun of him right now for blushing from just sitting next to Ivan. Alfred was struggling with the reason for his flushed face in his head, but pretending everything was normal and chatted with Ivan. They only had a couple of minutes left, so Mrs.Maxinimum told them they could chat with their partners. 

“Sorry I didn’t sit with you at lunch today, I had to make sure that my friends were okay with me sitting with you sometimes. I would have loved to sit next to you today, but I think they were still mad about yesterday,” Ivan said, brushing some of his soft hair out of his face. Alfred gave a weak smile, trying to contain himself. Ivan was just too damn cute, and Alfred was just getting the urge to hug him and hold him and kiss him- wait just a second. Oh no. Alfred’s face was literally on fire. He wanted to throw himself into one of the giant trash cans by the bathrooms that could definitely hold a person. This was entirely new.

First off, he was 13, not the best age for trying to make out with your new crush. Second off, NEW CRUSH?! Third, why was he thinking this just now, why had he just now started to develop this crazy new feelings? What the hell? Was it because he was just now seeing how sweet and innocent Ivan acted? He guessed that was probably the best answer, but still. This wasn’t good. Especially if they were going to have to work on a project together. Ivan’s hand shot up in the air, pointing up as his mouth formed an O. “I have an idea! Why don’t we give each other our phone numbers so we can talk more easily! Isn’t that a great idea?” Ivan beamed. 

Alfred nodded dumbly. Ivan’s grin widened. He opened his notebook, which was filled with doodles of cats, flowers, and occasionally Alfred. Alfred was beet red when he saw those, but tried to ignore how flushed he was. Ivan flipped to a blank page and tore off the corner, as well as another small chunk of the paper. He wrote down his number on the small slip, passing both it and the blank one to Alfred. Alfred barely even registered writing down his number, brain having difficulty processing the fact that his new found crush had literally just given him his phone number. Alfred passed Ivan the slip of paper with his number. Ivan grinned at him and stuffed it into his pocket. Alfred stared at the small piece of paper in his hands, memorizing the number written on it. He was uncomfortably hot and wanted out of there now. 

Ivan said something, but Alfred didn’t hear him. The bell rang and Alfred leapt up out of his seat and ran to his locker. Alfred grabbed his stuff quickly and bolted. He ran all the way to the bus, throwing himself into his seat, soon to be joined by Matthew. Ivan waved and smiled at him when he passed the seat, causing Alfred to flush again. Matthew began teasing him, but Alfred didn’t even respond. Matthew immediately knew something was up, and decided to ask about it later. Knowing his brother, Alfred would probably going to come and whine about it to him. Alfred ran home, ignoring Ivan’s calls to walk together. He hoped Ivan wouldn’t be mad at him for abandoning him. He just needed a little room to think. Yeah, just a little bit of space to breath. Oh boy, this was going to be…. Exciting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> criticise me please mwah mwah


	5. Why don't you come over?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> texting your crush like hhhhhhhh
> 
> honestly though I wouldn't know  
never had a crush before so I'm just guessing about how people act around their crushes

Alfred threw himself onto his bed face first. His backpack slumped awkwardly to the side before he yanked it off and threw it at his stuffed alien, Tony. Alfred groaned and Matthew dropped his backpack by the foot of his bed.

“Maybe you should be a little more careful Al, you still have that gift from Ivan in there,” he muttered, wrapping his arms around his stuffed bear Kumajiro, and sitting on his bed. Alfred shot up, gaze instantly falling to his bag. He scrambled across his bed and unzipped his backpack. He grabbed the box and Tony before kicking his backpack to the ground. He crawled near the edge of his bed, letting his legs swinging off. He faced Matthew who stared at the box in his twin’s hands. The box was small, but not too small, Alfred’s hand just barely big enough to hold it. A sunny yellow ribbon, a color similar to Alfred’s hair, was tied around it, keeping the smooth lid in place. The box itself was white, stark contrast to his tan skin.

“What do you think is in it?” Alfred asked, bringing the box close to his face. Matthew rolled his eyes. 

“Just open it, it could be anything. Neither of us know Ivan all that well, what’s one personal thing you know about him?” he said, resting his head atop the bear in his arms.

Alfred lowered the box, looking down at the carpet of their room in thought. “I know he likes to bake and cook, um, he’s pretty good at drawing and he likes cats!” he said triumphantly. He flashed a grin at Matthew who raised an amused eyebrow. Alfred turned his attention back to the box in his hands, grin still in place. He pulled on the ribbon of the bow. The bow came undone and Alfred pulled away the ribbon, letting it flutter down and rest upon Tony”s gray stomach. He lifted the lid of the box. What was inside was wrapped in a thin yellow paper. Alfred lifted the bundle out of the box, dropping it to the side before unwrapping what was inside the yellow paper. Matthew watched closely, leaning forward and squashing his bear.

Inside the paper were several cookies. Most of them had specific shapes, but a few were just plain chocolate chip cookies. There was a note with the cookies that read, I know you are fond of cookies, so I decided to make some for you and your brother. I hope you enjoy them and that you can forgive me for being so mean all these years! -Ivan. It had a little sunflower drawn next to the name as well as a cat in the top right corner. Alfred smiled at the note before turning his attention to the cookies. There was a cat and bear, both with white icing on top, along with two sunflowers, icing colors used accordingly, an alien with red and grey frosting, and a snowflake topped with light blue and white frosting. Alfred’s mouth watered at the sight of the cookies, all of them with a professional look, all clean and smooth with no mistakes. Even the plain chocolate chip cookies looked amazing, the lumpiness of the chocolate chips somehow managing to look perfect and machine made. 

“Wow, did Ivan make those?” Matthew asked.  
  
Alfred looked up from the cookies with grin. “Yep, he sure did! And he said they’re for both of us!” he beamed, passing Matthew the note. Matthew looked surprised, but happy. Usually everyone forgot him, so he was glad Ivan had remembered him and made him some cookies too. They split the cookies, Alfred with the cat and alien, Matthew with the bear and snowflake, and they each got a sunflower and some chocolate chip cookies. Each brother hugged their stuffed toy and chatted while eating the cookies. Matthew figured this was the best time to bring up Alfred’s strange behavior from earlier. 

“Hey, what was with you earlier today?” Matthew said, pulling his legs up crossing them on his bed. Alfred looked confused.

“Whadda mean?” he said, pulling his legs up in a similar fashion. 

“Like, when it was time to leave, you just ran out of class and went to your locker, then you ran all the way to the bus. When I sat down you were all flushed and then Ivan waved at you, and then you blushed more so I teased you about it but you didn’t even respond and basically curled into a blushing ball the whole ride home. Not to mention when we got off the bus Ivan grabbed your hand to stop you from running off and you looked like you were going to explode.” he said, counting the events on his fingers. Alfred curled himself around Tony, blushing furiously. Alfred sighed and gripped the alien tighter.

“Um, about that…” Alfred mumbled, “I uh, think that I, um, m-might have ateenybitofacrushonIvan!” he muttered, throwing his words together and burying his blushing face into his stuffed companion.   
Matthew cocked his head to the side. 

“What?” he asked, letting one of his legs fall off the bed and swing back and forth. 

Alfred mimicked the motion before grumbling, “I might have a teeny bit of a crush on Ivan.” Matthew stared at his brother in complete silence. 

“What?” he asked again, disbelief evident on his face. 

“You heard me!” Alfred hissed back, face beet red. Matthew shook his head and glanced down at Kumajiro before looking back up to his brother. 

“Just say it a little louder, tell me you’re not joking,” he sighed. Alfred scowled before complying. 

“I said, I might have a teeny bit of a crush on Ivan, and no, I’m not joking.” he said, voice a bit louder than necessary. Matthew stared at his bear before turning to face Alfred with a grin. 

“I knew it,” he giggled, causing Alfred to turn an even brighter red, “I knew it, I knew it!   
Oh Alfred! This is great! I totally just won a bet, you have no idea how happy that makes me! Anyway, that’s besides the point, what had you so flushed on the bus?”   
Alfred squeezed Tony tighter, scowling at the ground. 

“You know the project we’re doing in reading with the partners?” he asked. 

Matthew nodded his head, “Yeah, I’m partnered with Carlos, I think it’ll be pretty fun,” he said. Alfred glared at his pillows.

“Well, me and Ivan are partners, and he was getting excited about it, and he kept going on about how fun it would be and how excited he was to have me coming to his house and he said it would be cool if we had a sleepover and I just-” Alfred cut himself off with a loud groan. He threw himself backwards, letting Tony flop to the side. “He’s just too damn cute,” Alfred mumbled, making Matthew giggle. 

Matthew grinned at his twin, “Just so you know, I 100% support you, as does Francis and the entire student council! Also, if you need any advice with wooing Ivan, just ask me or Francis!” he beamed.

“I don’t need help wooing Ivan! We’re just friends! I’m just gonna have a secret crush and pretend that everything's fine!” he wailed, reaching over and burying his face in a pillow.  
  
Matthew rolled his eyes, “No, you’re not. For now, you can pretend to be just friends, but when the Christmas dance rolls around, you and him are going together as a couple, Francis and I will make sure of it,” he said sternly. Alfred peeked at his brother from behind the pillow with a small smile.   
“Thanks bro, I guess,” he mumbled. 

Matthew grinned, “No problem, Al!” he laughed. They both jumped when Alfred’s phone went off. Alfred pulled it out of his pocket and looked at what had made the noise. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Matthew crawled off his bed and sat on his Alfred’s. He leaned over to get a good look. “What’s up?” he asked, crossing his legs next to his brother. Alfred once more copied his brother and turned to face him more. 

“I got a text, but it’s from a num...b...er-” Alfred slowed down while talking, realization dawning on his face.   
Alfred turned pink, pulling a slip of paper from his pocket. He checked the numbers and turned an even brighter pink. 

“Who is it?” Matthew asked, leaning over to check as Alfred changed the person’s name in his contacts. 

“It’s uh, it’s Ivan,” he muttered.  
  
Matthew grinned at his brother, “You say you’re just friends, but you already have his number after one day?” he asked smugly. 

“Shut up, it’s for the project,” Alfred hissed. Matthew took the phone, taking it upon himself to give Ivan a proper name in Alfred’s contacts. 

“What are you doing? Stop playing around! I have to reply soon!” Matthew handed Alfred’s phone back. Alfred looked at the phone before glaring at his brother, “A heart emoji? Really?” he sighed.

Matthew giggled, “Yep, it fits perfectly! Now go on, respond! If you hate it so much then change it later.” Alfred rolled his eyes and looked back down to his phone.

Ivan: Hello ^ J ^

“Shit, bro what do I say?” Alfred hissed.   
Matthew rolled his eyes, “Language, and just say hi back, it’s not that big of a deal.” he mumbled, eyes glued to the phone screen. Alfred scowled at his brother.

Ivan: Hello ^ J ^  
Alfred: Heyyyy :)

“Fuck,” Alfred muttered.   
“What did I just say?” Matthew sighed.   
“Shut up!” Alfred grumbled as Ivan began to type his reply.

Ivan: Did you open the present?

Alfred began sweating. This was bad.

Alfred: Yea  
Alfred: It was yum :))))

Matthew rolled his eyes again.

Ivan: I’m glad you liked it! I was so worried you would still be mad at me, but Katya helped me to see that I just needed to apologize!  
Alfred: Yep! So what’s up?

Alfred was having a mini panic attack at this point. “Calm down, Alfred, it’s just a friendly conversation with a friend.” Matthew said.   
“How can you say that? You know I like him!” Alfred squeaked.

Ivan: Nothing much, just wondering when we could hang out 

Alfred died. He looked at Matthew, who grinned in response. “He could hang out today, but he would have to meet meet you somewhere in the neighborhood. Ask him if he knows where our house is,” said Matthew.

Alfred: We could hang out today if you want  
Alfred: But like, I don’t know where your house is  
Alfred: So we’d have to meet somewhere, unless you know where my house is  
Ivan: I know where your house is, could I come over?

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my goddddd,” Alfred wheezed. Matthew was grinning.   
He leapt off the bed, “Hold on, lemme ask mom!” he squealed. Alfred turned back to his phone, panting.

Alfred: hold on, gotta check and make sure by mom’s cool with it  
Ivan: Okie dokie ^ J ^ 

God, Ivan was just too cute. Matthew came skipping back into the room. “Ivan can come inside, but no staying the night!” he sang.   
“Well obviously! We’ve been friends for like, a day! Have some sense Matthew!” Alfred hissed, typing his response.

Alfred: You can come hang out today, mom’s cool with it  
Ivan: Wonderful! I will be there soon ^ J ^  
Alfred: Cool beans :)))))

Alfred flopped back onto his bed with a giddy grin painted across his face. Matthew stood by the door, smile spread across his face. “Well, I think we better clean up. We’ll have company soon.” Alfred sat up. He nodded at his brother, giving his phone a fond glance before shoving it into his pocket. He zipped up his backpack and propped it up against his bed like he’d seen in magazines. He quickly tidied up the rest of his room before running downstairs to clean things up down there, as well as prepare snacks for his crush’s arrival. He was so excited for Ivan to see his house, hoping Ivan would like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> love me


	6. Sunflowers are pretty cool, honestly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> capri sun

Alfred heard the doorbell. He grinned and dropped the bowl of chips onto the table, startling the two cats that rested there, Hero and Pancake. Hero leapt up to follow Alfred as he ran towards the door. He slid across the hardwood floor by the door. He pushed Hero away with his foot as he unlocked the door. This is ridiculous, he thought, you literally just started being friends with him today and you’re already head over heels for him. Alfred ignored the voice and let the door swing open with a giddy grin. There stood Ivan, same fluffy and soft brown sweater, same black pants and boots, same puffy white scarf tied in that silly bow around his neck, the difference was that he had a dog with him, and a pretty big one at that. It was white all over, it’s slightly long fur hanging off elegantly. It stood a bit past his waist, Alfred figured it would appear smaller when next to a full grown adult. 

Ivan gave him a nervous smile. “Sorry for bringing Snezhinka, I’ll bring her back but Katya said that if I was going out than I needed to take her on a walk, and usually I walk her around your house before turning back, so I thought it would be convenient to show you where my house is!” he said, gripping the dog’s leash tighter nervously. Alfred waved a hand dismissively, somehow calm in front of his crush.

“It’s cool, just hold on a sec,” He turned around, bending over to grab his shoes and Hero. He stood up again, cradling his cat in one arm, shoes in the other. He gave Ivan a grin before walking further into his house. He ran into the living room, where Matthew was eating some of the chips and watching tv. He dropped Hero next to Pancake and Matthew, “Make sure he doesn’t try to eat our chips,” he said. Matthew nodded, giving his twin a questioning glance. “MOM! IVAN AND I ARE GONNA WALK HIS DOG, WE’LL BE BACK SOON!” Alfred yelled.

“OKAY!” his mom yelled back.  


He gave his twin a grin, “Wanna see Ivan’s dog?” Matthew nodded in response, standing up and sending Hero a glare before following Alfred. Alfred pulled on his red converse as he walked back to the still open door. When they got there Ivan was kneeling in front of the dog, patting its head and muttering to it in russian. “Hey dude, Mattie wanted to meet your dog, as do I,” Alfred said, stepping outside. Matthew stayed in the doorway, not caring to get his socks dirty. 

Matthew smiled at the dog, “And who’s this?” he cooed kneeling down as the dog approached slowly. 

Ivan beamed at Matthew, “Her name is Snezhinka, it means snowflake in russian. Snezhinka, meet Matvey. Matvey, meet Snezhinka!” he said, patting his dog’s head as it stepped closer to Matthew. Matthew grinned and scratched the dog’s ears. 

“That’s a cool name,” Alfred said, reaching over to pet the dog as well. 

“Thank you! I named her myself!” Ivan grinned, causing Alfred to flush. 

Matthew smirked at Alfred, “What breed is she?” Alfred asked, trying to ignore the look Matthew gave him. 

“She’s a borzoi, very well behaved. I love her so very much,” he giggled as he knelt down in front of the dog again. Snezhinka nuzzled Ivan’s cheek, making him giggle again. Alfred blushed brighter. Matthew grinned at him.  
Ivan stood up again, smiling at Alfred.

“I think we should go, I have to be back by 6, so we should return Snezhinka and then hang out here,” Ivan said. Alfred smiled and nodded his head. 

He waved at Matthew, “We’ll be back soon, Mattie!” he called. 

“Yes, very soon Matvey!” Ivan called as well, giving him an excited wave before walking off down the driveway. Matthew shook his head with a smile and closed the door. Alfred sprinted down the driveway and skidded to a stop by the mailbox. He bounced up and down with excitement as Ivan trotted down the driveway after him. 

“How long have you had Snezhinka?” Alfred asked as Ivan reached where he was standing. Ivan tapped his chin as they began their walk.  


“About 4 years now, I believe,” Ivan said, smiling at his companion. 

“Cool, do you still have that cat, what was his name? K something, right?” Alfred asked, kicking a rock across the road. 

“Da, I still have Koshka, he is a very good cat, the best there is!” Ivan beamed. Alfred laughed and ran ahead. He spun around to face Ivan, throwing his arms out to the side. 

“So buddy, what made you wanna be friends with me?” Alfred asked, linking his hands together behind his back and letting them swing back and forth. Ivan tugged on the leash gently when Snezhinka paused to sniff something. 

“I believe it is because of how warm and kind you are, I was jealous that I was the only one who you treated with spite, so I decided that I would change it. I guess that would be my reason, besides, Francis said that I needed more friends,” Ivan mused, gazing at the flowers littering the edge of the the road. Alfred nodded, continuing to walk backwards to face Ivan. His face had flushed a bit at Ivan describing him so fondly, he never really thought the words warm and kind described him well. They chatted for a few minutes before reaching Ivan’s house. 

Ivan’s house was white with gray shingles, pretty bland if you asked Alfred, but it’s not like he was gonna say that in front of his crush. There were a bunch of sunflowers planted around the whole house, which spiced things up a bit. Overall, Alfred thought i was a pretty nice house, as he was fond of the flowers scattered around the lawn. He looked over to Ivan who had knelt down by the edge of the driveway. When he stood up, he held a sunflower. Ivan smiled at him before skipping over and giving the flower to Alfred. Alfred, of course, didn’t know how to handle this situation and turned beet red. 

“T-thanks,” he stuttered out, clutching the sunflower to his chest, but he then decided to tuck the flower behind his ear. Ivan smiled at him before turning and walking up the driveway. He followed Ivan up the driveway and stood by the door when Ivan opened it. “You can come in, if you want,” Ivan said, turning towards Alfred, once more gripping Snezhinka’s leash tighter in nervousness. 

Alfred smiled, “Of course, that would be awesome!” he replied, practically vibrating with excitement. 

Ivan returned the smile before turning towards the open door, “You don’t have to take your shoes off, since you’re not going to be inside for long,” Alfred nodded his head in response, following Ivan inside. Ivan closed the door behind them, reaching down and releasing Snezhinka from the confines of her leash. Snezhinka trotted further into the house, followed by both Ivan and Alfred. Ivan dropped the leash into a small bowl by the front door that rested on a long table. There was a vase filled with sunflowers and some keys on the table as well. They walked further into the house. The small hallway opened up into a kitchen, looking modern and new. You could see the living room from the kitchen, the colors all dark with gray, white, and black. There was an island in the kitchen, three black stools on the side facing out.

Alfred was startled to see someone sitting in the stool furthest away. It was Natalia, Ivan’s younger sister. Alfred (along with pretty much everyone else) had always been afraid of Natalia. Natalia had tried to stab him with a fork when she met him. She had been screaming that he deserved to die for making her big brother cry, but that had been back in third grade. He swallowed thickly, hoping Natalia didn’t know about the tears that were shed yesterday. Natalia looked up from her snack. She gave her brother a loving smile before her expression turned into a hateful glare. Ivan ignored her and walked over to their stainless steel fridge, pulling open the door and grabbing a capri sun. 

“Do you want one, Alfred?” Ivan asked, biting the plastic off his straw. Alfred pulled his attention away from Natalia’s death stare and nodded. Ivan smiled and pulled out another capri sun, struggling to shove his straw into his pouch before handing Alfred his. Alfred opened his straw and shoved it through the plastic. 

Ivan sat down next to Natalia, and Alfred beside him. Ivan continued to struggle with his capri sun, Alfred watching silently. Ivan’s face got a little flushed as he tightened his grip on his yellow straw. He smashed it against the pouch violently, pinkish face twisted into a scowl. He sighed and handed his capri sun to Natalia, who had been watching with a smirk. Natalia pushed the straw into the capri sun and handed it back to the pouting Ivan. Ivan began to suck on his straw, cheeks puffed in annoyance. Alfred couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped him at Ivan’s pouting. Ivan laughed too, turning to Alfred with a bright smile. Alfred flushed and looked down, drinking his capri sun as loudly as possible. In waltzed Katya, Koshka perched on her shoulder. Alfred looked up at her, wondering how long it took to get the cat to sit like that on her shoulder while moving. 

Katya jumped, not expecting there to be another person there. “Дерьмо!” Katya squeaked as Koshka leapt off her shoulder and onto the ground. 

“Language, sestra,” Ivan said, squeezing his capri sun to get more juice. 

Katya gave a nervous chuckle, “Sorry, Vanya, didn’t mean to. It just kinda slipped out.” Kosha trotted over to Ivan’s stool, tail swishing and brushing across the floor. Ivan finished the last of his capri sun and slid out of his chair. He dropped his now empty capri sun in the trash before kneeling down to pet his cat. Koshka purred contentedly as Ivan scratched his ears. Alfred watched Ivan adore his cat, squeezing his empty capri sun tighter. Alfred quickly turned away from the adorable bean that was Ivan. He threw his capri sun away and stood beside Ivan. Ivan stood once more, brushing himself off. Koshka meowed at Ivan, standing on his back legs and pawing Ivan’s pant leg. Ivan smiled down at the cat before turning to his elder sister. 

“We’ll be going now, sestra,” he grinned. Katya nodded and picked Koshka up, patting the cat’s head as Ivan and Alfred turned to leave. Natalia leapt up from her seat and ran over to Ivan, wrapping her arms around his middle and burying her face in his back. Ivan froze the instant Natalia touched him, face turning from his carefree smile to a mortified expression. 

“Please return soon, big brother,” Natalia whispered, “I cannot stand seeing you with this american pig.” Ivan shakily nodded his head. Natalia released him with a smile, pecking him on the cheek before skipping off back to her snack. Ivan sprinted towards the door, followed closely by Alfred. They threw the door open and ran out, slamming the door shut behind them. Alfred adjusted the sunflower in his hair, making sure it wouldn't fall. Ivan turned to Alfred with a nervous chuckle, “Let’s go then, shall we?” he asked, brushing his hair out of his face. Alfred smiled and nodded, running off down the driveway, Ivan in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> criticise me please mwah mwah
> 
> or just tell me how amazing I am because that's a major confidence boost and makes me want to write :)


	7. You Should Really Be More Careful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> classic anime fall because I thought I'd be funny and my way too nice friend suggested it

The boys arrived at Alfred’s house, Alfred panting from all the running and Ivan only a little flushed from the heat of the sun. Alfred opened the door for Ivan, following him with a smile. Alfred kicked off his shoes and waited while Ivan untied his boots and placed them down neat and gentle. 

“This is my house, it’s pretty awesome, even Gilbert agrees.” Alfred said, walking towards the living room. “I’ll give you a special little tour, special for my special guest,” he grinned, turning to Ivan while throwing his arms out to the side. What the hell did I just say that sounded so stupid, Alfred thought, mentally punching himself. Ivan giggled, pulling up part off his scarf to cover his mouth. Alfred let out a sigh of relief, Oh thank god he thinks I’m funny. Alfred gave his crush a nervous grin before walking into the living room. Matthew sat on the black couch, both Hero and Pancake draped across his stomach. 

He gave a little wave, “Made sure Hero didn’t touch your chips Al. Also, hey Ivan.” he said, struggling to sit up. The cats leapt off of Matthew at the sight of a stranger. 

“Hello Matvey!” Ivan sang, returning the wave.  
  
Alfred grinned, “This here is the living room, TV and all that jazz,” he said, gesturing towards the room itself. Ivan walked up and ran a hand across the coffee table, coasters littered the glass surface. The legs and support for the glass were made of wood, painted black to match the couch. Alfred’s snacks rested upon the table, chips, three sodas (one open, presumably Matthew’s), and some cookies. A black chair sat to the left of the couch, which was where the cats had migrated to, curling together and throwing the gray pillow that rested there to the floor. A fake fireplace was carved into the wall in front of the couch, TV mounted above it. Ivan smiled at the cats before turning back to Alfred. Alfred grinned and turned towards the kitchen with Ivan close behind him. The two entered the kitchen, Ivan looking around in wonder.

“This here’s the kitchen, obviously,” Alfred said, reaching over and grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl, dropping his sunflower there as well. Alfred bit into the fruit as Ivan looked around the kitchen, pressing buttons on his samsung fridge. Alfred smirked, “Yep, we got one of those cool fridges, but don’t mess with it too much of my mom will yell at me,” he said, chewing his apple loudly. Ivan backed away from the fridge with a nod before turning back to Alfred. Alfred turned from Ivan to walk over to the dining room, right beside the kitchen. “Dining room, obvious as well.” he said through bites of his apple. Ivan nodded and gave the dark wooden table and chairs a good stare. Alfred set his apple on the table before walking away, Ivan at his heels. They walked over to the stairs, climbing them as quickly as possible, Alfred skipping every other step, while Ivan held onto the railing, taking each step at a time.

Alfred, being the reckless idiot he was, spun around on the stairs, swinging his leg out accidentally. He kicked Ivan in the middle, causing him to tip backwards. Shit, Alfred thought. Panicking, he reached out and grabbed Ivan’s sweater. Normally this would have worked and they would have been saved from falling down the stairs, but Alfred hadn’t thought to hold onto the railing. Alfred gripped Ivan’s sweater as he too began to fall, him just standing was not enough to stop Ivan from falling. Ivan let out a high pitched squeak, Alfred grunting, as they fell down the stairs, both of them hitting the ground with a loud thud, Ivan letting out another squeak. Alfred, who had squeezed his eyes shut, peeled them open and pushed himself up with his arms, wondering what the soft thing he had landed on was. 

Alfred froze, staring down at Ivan, who was the soft thing he had landed on. Ivan wiggled underneath him, face twisted into a scowl and eyes screwed shut from the pain of hitting his head on the ground. Alfred’s face turned beet red when he realized how he was pinning Ivan down, hands on either side of Ivan’s head. He stared down at Ivan as his pain subsided and he opened his eyes. Ivan stared up at him, silent for a moment and completely expressionless before his face flushed and he squirmed more underneath Alfred. That was when Alfred realized that the position they were in was even more compromising than originally thought. Alfred wanted to scream as Ivan continued to squirm, pressing himself against Alfred’s groin, unintentionally of course. Alfred’s glasses were hanging off his face, only kept on by his ears. Matthew walked around the corner, having heard the thud.

“Everything alright you two?” he asked, pushing his glasses up his nose with one hand, holding Hero in the other. Matthew’s voice was enough to get Alfred to register that it was imperative that he move now. Alfred leapt off Ivan with a surprised cry. Matthew stared at Alfred and Ivan, Alfred with his face crimson, and Ivan laying on the ground, legs spread slightly. Ivan sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Alfred averted his eyes, instead deciding to stare at his feet. Matthew smirked at his twin, letting Hero fall to the ground. 

“S-sorry Ivan, shoulda been more careful,” Alfred squeaked out, suddenly overcome with the urge to apologize. 

“It’s okay, you didn’t mean too,” Ivan sighed, standing up and brushing himself off. Alfred was practically shaking with adrenaline, and honestly didn’t know what to do in this situation. Luckily, it seemed that Ivan wasn’t all that bothered by the way they had landed, only the fall. Ivan straightened out the bow his scarf was tied up in, glancing back at the stairs. Alfred shoved his glasses up his nose, glaring at the ground now, cursing himself for his recklessness. The worst part was now Alfred’s mom was here. 

“Everything alright boys?” she called from the top of the stairs. Ivan looked up to her and smiled. 

“No, everything’s good mom!” Alfred called, not wanting his mom to come down and embarrass him. 

Ivan nodded his head, “Yep! Everything’s fine Ms. Jones!” he beamed. 

Alfred’s mom smiled at him, “Oh what a nice young boy, you’re lucky to have him as a partner, Alfie, he’s so well behaved! I’ve been best friends with his mother since they moved here! They’re such a lovely family!” she grinned. Alfred groaned, burying his already flushed face in his hands. He tried to pretend he was wasn’t there as his mother bid the kids farwell and went back to her room.  
Ivan turned back to the twins smile still in place, “You know, she used to make me call her Amelia,” he giggled. 

Matthew laughed, “Really? She did that? But I thought she loved the power the title ‘Ms’ gave her, she used to tell us that.” Matthew chuckled. Ivan nodded his head, grin still in place. 

“I think she was flirting with my mom at one point, but she’d had a lot of wine then. It was really funny though because by mom didn’t know how to handle it and just ended up making her cry!” Ivan laughed. That got Alfred to laugh. Ivan and Matthew smiled at Alfred as he chuckled, imagining his mom desperately trying to hit on some lady before that same lady made her burst into tears. The three of them walked to the living room, Alfred deciding not only to forget that fall ever happened, but also the need to give Ivan the upstairs tour. 

Alfred tried desperately to brush off the fall, but he knew that when Ivan left for home that Matthew would be all over it with the teasing. Alfred threw himself onto the couch, ignoring the looks Matthew was giving him and grabbing a handful of chips. Ivan sat beside him, pulling his legs up and crossing them on the couch. Matthew flopped down in the chair, reaching down and pulling the pillow from the ground to hug it. Pancake and Hero curled up together on the rug in front of the fireplace, purring loudly as they slept. 

“So, what do you wanna do?” asked Matthew, squeezing his pillow and leaning against the chair’s armrest. 

“Hmmmm, I dunno. How much time do we have?” Alfred responded, throwing himself across the armrest on the couch. 

Matthew pulled his phone from the pocket of his hoodie, “It’s 4:17 so like, about 2 hours.”

Ivan pulled his legs closer as he reached for a cookie, “You can have a soda,” Alfred muttered absentmindedly as he thought of a good activity. Ivan smiled, grabbing a soda as well.  
Uuugh, I should’ve figured something out before he got here! Alfred thought, running a hand through his hair and glancing to the TV. He looked to Ivan, who was munching on his cookie and holding his unopened soda, smiling contentedly. 

“We could just chat,” Matthew suggested with a shrug. 

Ivan’s lips once again turned up into a smile, “I’d like that,” he beamed, taking another bite of his cookie. Alfred smiled back, shifting in his seat as he reached for the TV remote. He turned the TV to the food network channel before slumping back against the couch. 

“So, what’s up?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> confess your love to me and I'll write faster


	8. Lunch Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> friday!  
gil needs to chill  
nervous shy bean is tired of your shit gil  
some nice extra GerIta thrown in because my friend would not rest until he got that quality GerIta content he was(not) promised

Alfred dropped his tray down on the lunch table, followed by Arthur’s tray. Kiku looked up from his lunchbox, smiling as he caught sight of his best friend. Alfred grinned back, sitting down across from him. He slid to the side a little when Matthew came over, giving his brother more room to sit. Francis, Gilbert, Antonio, Ludwig, and Lovino walked over, all of them setting down their trays and eating their food with various levels of eagerness. Francis sat beside Alfred, flashing him a smile. 

Alfred scowled, pushing Francis away, “Make room, idiot! Ivan is gonna sit here today! We need space!” he hissed, now shoving Francis. Francis chuckled and slid over, flicking his hair as he did so. 

“Oh, you should have told me you’re boyfriend was coming here, I would have moved sooner!” he sang, smirk plastered across his smug face. Alfred hissed at him, face crimson as he returned his attention to his food. 

Arthur rolled his eyes, “Don’t listen to him, lad. He’s just a stupid frog,” he said, scooping up a chunk of pineapple. 

“We’re the same age! Stop calling me lad!” Alfred cried, grabbing his pizza and angrily taking a bite. Arthur scoffed, shaking his head and eating his pineapples in silence. Francis snickered at his defeat, shaking his carton of milk and grinning at Arthur. Gilbert grinned and nudged Antonio as Arthur glared at Francis, making Matthew shrink in on himself.   
Ludwig shook his head, sighing as Gilbert began to chant “Fight!” repeatedly under his breath. Alfred frowned as Arthur aggressively pulled the top off his ranch and poured it onto his salad, making eye contact with Francis the whole time. Feliciano had started a conversation with Kiku at this point, and was completely ignoring the argument about to happen, and he was currently trying to get Ludwig’s attention. Alfred scowled at his rambunctious friends, crossing his arms over his chest, though still eating his pizza.

“Calm down!” he hissed through a mouthful of pizza, “Ivan’ll be here any minute and I can’t have you ruining his impression of me!” 

Francis chuckled again, “But wouldn’t his opinion of you already be tarnished? You have been enemies ever since second grade! Plus, third grade was a big ordeal too, wasn’t it?” he mused, propping his head up with his hand while taking a sip of his milk.

Alfred scowled at him, “Shut up!” he shouted, throwing his pizza at his tray and pointing an accusatory finger at Francis. “You! You need to stop it with the comments! Ivan is going to sit with us and you need to learn to control that smart mouth of yours!” Arthur nodded in agreement, eating his salad and wiping his mouth with his napkin. 

“Agreed, frog. Stop it with your rude and perverted comments! Down with the frogs!” Arthur cried, pointing his ranch covered spoon into the air.

“And I oop,” Kiku muttered. Ludwig snorted, wiping his mouth from spitting out some of his food. Feliciano giggled, dropping his pizza onto his tray to cover his mouth.  


“You really don’t have to worry, Al, Ivan’s still in the lunch line,” muttered Matthew between bites of his pizza. Alfred’s head snapped to the side, eyes searching for Ivan. He grinned when he caught sight of Ivan. He relaxed in his seat, slouching over as he stared at Ivan

Ivan rocked back and forth on his heels, the drawstrings on his hoodie and his scarf tails swinging back and forth. A sleeping cat printed in black was centered on his white hoodie, purple converse on his feet and black pants worn on his legs. Alfred sighed as he watched Ivan shuffle forward in line, his grin softening into an absentminded smile. Matthew smirked at his twin, glancing to Francis, who had a similar look on his face. Kiku narrowed his eyes at Alfred, small frown spreading across his face as he chewed his pocky. Feliciano reached over and grabbed a stick while Kiku was distracted, putting it into his mouth and leaning back. He wiggled his eyebrows at Ludwig as he let the pocky stick out. Ludwig snorted again as he bit the crust of his pizza. 

Alfred sat up straighter as Ivan scanned his finger, skipping over and grabbing his tray. Alfred tore open his scooby grahams as Ivan grabbed a tray with corn, grabbing an apple on his way to the salad bar as well. He practically vibrated with excitement as Ivan finished scooping salad onto his tray, turning away from the salad bar and glancing around. Tolys and Yao walked past him, stopping and giving him questioning glances. Ivan pointed to Alfred’s table with a smile, Tolys and Yao’s eyes narrowing and frowns spreading across their faces. Ivan gestured around with his free hand, his heartwarming (As Alfred liked to think) explanation for sitting with Alfred unheard over the roar of children talking in the cafeteria. Tolys sighed and shook his head, turning and walking to his table. Yao stayed for a moment longer, glaring at Alfred and his friends before trying one last time to convince Ivan to sit with him today. Ivan shook his head, smile still in place. Yao huffed, sticking his hand out, pinky extended. Ivan grinned, doing the same. 

“What kinda losers are still pinky swearing?” Gilbert snorted, stuffing his face with pizza.

“We do that all the time though,” Antonio muttered, causing Lovino to spit out his milk.

Alfred glanced to them before returning his attention to Ivan. Ivan waved to Yao before skipping over towards Alfred. Alfred beamed, giving Yao one last look before sliding over a bit to give Ivan more room. Ivan sat his tray down, flashing Alfred’s friends a nervous smile. Most of them smiled back, although a few were skeptical. Gilbert scowled at Ivan, having never liked him in the first place. Ivan seemed to shrink at Gilbert’s hard glare, sliding into his seat silently. 

Alfred frowned at Gilbert before turning to Ivan with a bright smile, “How’s it hanging, dude?” Alfred grinned. Ivan smiled at him, doing his best to ignore Gilbert. 

“I’m good, Tolys and Yao trying to stop me from sitting here, which was a little annoying, but I can see where they’re coming from,” Ivan said, turning to his tray. “Does anyone want my pizza?” Ivan asked as he pulled the top off his ranch.

Alfred, Feliciano, Antonio, and Gilbert’s hands all flew up as they shouted “I do!” in unison.   
Francis chuckled and patted Ivan’s head, “Pick your favorite,” he laughed, flashing Ivan a smile that Ivan quickly returned. 

“I didn’t know you two were friends,” Ludwig mused, propping his head up with one hand and holding his pizza up with the other. 

Ivan nodded, “Yep, we’ve been friends since second grade!” he beamed. Alfred’s eyes narrowed at Francis, who gave Alfred a smug grin in return. Ivan turned back to his tray, pouring his ranch onto his salad. “I think it would only be fair if I split it, right?” he muttered, glancing to Alfred for his approval. Alfred sighed, he had been hoping that Ivan would let him have it, but he guessed this worked too. Alfred nodded, to which Ivan grinned, immediately turning back to his tray and pulling the pizza into four chunks. They weren’t exactly even, and Ivan ended up giving Alfred the largest piece. Alfred grinned as Ivan passed the pizza pieces to the people who requested some. Gilbert hissed when Ivan’s hand brushed his, recoiling and sending Ivan another glare. Ivan forced a smile before turning back to Alfred.

“So, how’s strings going for ya, Ivan?” Alfred inquired in an attempt to take Ivan’s mind off of Gilbert’s unwavering glare. Ivan’s weak smile spread into a grin, apparently passionate about his instrument. Alfred made a mental note of that before Ivan spoke.

“Strings is going great! In fact, Mrs.Alvarado says that I’m one of the best bass players she’s ever had! Though, it isn’t that hard to earn the title since not many people pick the bass, but I’m kind of tall so I thought it would fit,” Ivan beamed, scooping up a bite of corn. He shoved the spoon into his mouth, munching on his corn with a contented smile. “How’s band going for you?” Ivan asked through more bites of his food.

Arthur laughed, the quick motion making all the salad slide off his spoon. Alfred scowled at him. “Hey!” he cried, “I’m not that bad at the trumpet! Mr.Collin actually told me I’m the best one!” 

Arthur barked another laugh. “Yeah, well every single one of the trumpets is absolutely horrendous, and you’re no exception!” he cried, grin plastered across his face. Alfred puffed his cheeks in annoyance as Arthur continued. “Even the trombones are better than the trumpets, and everyone agrees that they have zero focus and mess up all the time! You’re nothing like the clarinets and saxophones! Honestly, the clarinets are the best out of everyone.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re a clarinet! You’re forgetting all about the other low brass and the flutes! Feli is a killer flute, and Carlos, even though I hate the guy, I can still admit he is a bomb baritone,” Alfred spat, crossing his arms over his chest. Arthur’s huge eyebrows furrowed.

“The flutes don’t really matter all that much, though. They’re all too quiet and get covered up,” Arthur said, turning his nose up at Alfred’s argument. Alfred face twisted into an even more angry version of his former scowl as he opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by a quiet giggle. He whipped his head around, eyebrows raised. Ivan pulled his scarf up over his mouth, though Alfred didn’t miss the tiny smile that Ivan had, as well as cheeks dusted with pink. Alfred beamed at Ivan, his argument with Arthur momentarily forgotten.  


“What, you find this is funny?” Arthur scoffed, tearing open his milk carton without even shaking it first. Alfred winced as Arthur began to drink his milk, but did his best to ignore it and listen to Ivan’s response.

Ivan fiddled with the one of the drawstrings in his hoodie, glancing around for a moment before speaking up. “I guess I did find it a little funny, but it’s not like I was making fun of you! It’s just that I don’t really have these kind of interactions often because my other friends rarely argue, so it was just nice for a little change of pace I guess. I don’t know,” Ivan muttered, burying his face in his scarf, as it was flushed in embarrassment. Alfred patted Ivan’s head and once again attempted to speak, but to his dismay, was cut off again.

Gilbert snickered, lips quirked up into a sly grin as he reached over and grabbed a piece of corn from Ludwig’s tray. Ludwig raised an eyebrow, but let his brother do as he wished. Gilbert set the corn on the table, lining his fingers up behind it and aiming before flicking it at Ivan. Ivan flinched as it bounced of his face, leaving a small wet mark where it hit his cheek. The corn fell onto Ivan’s lap, where Ivan stared down at it. Many eyebrows were raised, and a few of the table’s inhabitants laughed, but Ivan stayed silent. 

Alfred sighed and dropped his hands onto the table. “Gil, I would appreciate it if you could not,” he grumbled, tapping his fingers impatiently on the lunch table. Gilbert rolled his eyes as he grabbed another piece of corn. Ludwig, amazingly, still let his brother take it.  


“You can’t stop me,” Gilbert muttered under his breath as he aimed the corn once more before flicking it at Ivan. Ludwig watched silently, having decided to drop out of the conversation with Feliciano and Kiku to watch Gilbert. Alfred figured he was just impressed by Gilbert’s aim, which was pretty good, but he wished Ludwig would stop his brother. Ludwig was about 95% of Gilbert’s impulse control, which was cool and all, but Ludwig had such a deep admiration and respect for his brother that he just watched his brother do whatever he was doing instead of trying to stop him. Another downside to Ludwig’s attitude about his brother was that he always believed whatever Gilbert said, so there was a very large possibility that the reason for his silence was that Gilbert had whispered something to him about this being some dumb experiment that Ludwig automatically agreed to because why the hell not?

The corn piece made contact with Ivan’s cheek, leaving another wet spot, not too far from the other one, before it fell and joined the former corn piece in Ivan’s lap. Alfred too a moment to admire Gilbert’s accuracy before asking for Gilbert to stop once more.

“Gil, dude, bro. Stop,” Alfred ground out, his hands, once patting a nameless tune out on his legs, were now clenched into fists as Gilbert rolled his eyes. “Gilbert,” Alfred warned as Gilbert prepared another piece of corn.

Gilbert chuckled, nudging Ludwig with a grin.  
“Watch this, West,” he whispered.

“What are you going to do, bruder?” Ludwig whispered back, resting his elbows on the table. 

“I’m going to blow your mind.”

Gilbert set up his final piece of corn, making sure his aim was perfect. His tongue peeped through his lips as he lowered his head to be level with the table. He fingers, already in position to flick, nudged it forward just a bit as he prepared himself. “Watch closely, West. Feast your eyes on my awesomeness. I’m about to do something that has never been done before, an incredibly awesome feat that will be spoken of for generations,” Gilbert grinned, glancing to his younger brother. Ludwig looked like a puppy that was trying to hide its excitement, but was failing miserably, rocking in his seat with eyes wide in wonder. Ludwig kept fidgeting with the edge of his shorts, his feet tapping impatiently. Feliciano was staring at him with a dreamy look, and it appeared that he was swinging his legs back and forth. Judging by the fact that Matthew kept wincing, he was probably being a little extra and kicking the poor kid.

Alfred narrowed his eyes, his fisted hands now resting on the table as he glared at Gilbert. It seemed that when Feliciano had stopped talking with Kiku to stare at Ludwig, Kiku had started up a conversation with Arthur and Matthew, and they were now ignoring the tense atmosphere that had formed the second after the first piece of corn was launched. Lovino and Antonio were having some sort of argument were Lovino was the main contributor and Antonio would nod along to whatever he said, which just made Lovino yell louder. Francis appeared to be trying to help resolve their pathetic excuse for a conflict, though he kept glancing back at Ivan with worried eyes. Alfred was glad to know that not everyone was ignoring what was happening. 

Alfred opened his hands and tapped his finger anxiously. He shivered. Had it always been so cold in here? Why was Gilbert still muttering to Ludwig? Was he going to do it or not? Alfred hoped he wouldn’t, but wasn’t exactly sure how to stop the corn for launching in the first place. He heaved a sigh, one of his feet now tapping the ground as well. All of a sudden, the corn launched.

Alfred’s eyes widened behind his glasses as the corn sailed through the air, heading straight for Ivan, who had yet to look up. Alfred froze, every cell in his body yelling at him to catch the corn, push Ivan out of the way, punch Gilbert, anything! But Alfred stayed still, his brain telling him that something wasn’t right and it was best to just sit and wait to see how this turned out. Alfred shivered again as the corn landed on top of Ivan’s head. He was certain it had been a few degrees warmer just a few minutes ago. It seemed that everyone else had noticed the drop in temperature as well. Alfred saw his friends rubbing their arms and chattering their teeth for dramatic effect out of the corner of his eye. Alfred’s attention turned back to Ivan as the corn fell from his head, landing only a couple inches away from the other two corn piece on Ivan’s lap. Alfred thought he heard Lovino snort, but ignored it.

Ivan slowly turned his head up, his mouth twisted into a cold and dangerous smile as anger swirled in his violet eyes. Alfred flinched at the hard glare, even though it wasn’t sent to him. Ivan’s eyes bore into Gilbert’s, and Alfred watched as Gilbert’s eyes widened (in fear, most likely). Gilbert slid back in his seat, his eyes darting around the cafeteria for possible escape routes. The only person who didn’t look at least a little shaken (besides Alfred, who was really just confused as to what was even happening at this point) was Francis, who looked very concerned, whether it was for Ivan or Gilbert, Alfred didn’t know. 

Without warning, Ivan jumped into action, grabbing a handful of corn, jumping out of his seat, and throwing all of it straight into Gilbert’s face. Gilbert screeched in terror as the corn flew at him, throwing his arms up in a desperate attempt to shield himself, but in the end there was just too much corn, and all the pieces were too small, so they all ended up hitting him, drenching him in the weird juice that the corn was soaked in. Pretty much everyone jumped a bit when Ivan attacked, but they were all laughing now because if Gilbert’s reaction. Alfred barked a laugh before pausing to look at Ivan.

It looked like Ivan was panting, and his eyes darted around the group as he laughed along with them nervously. Ivan settled back down in his seat and wiped his hand on his napkin, his laughter seeming more forced by the second. He shifted in his seat as he glanced up at Gilbert, who was now trying and failing to get all the corn off him. 

Alfred narrowed his eyes, but decided to get back to his ignored pizza. Alfred listened in on the conversation Matthew was having with Arthur and Kiku, but was soon bored and went back to watching Ivan. Ivan was silent now, picking at his salad and what was left of his corn. He dropped his spoon and went to fiddling with his scarf and hoodie, tugging on the edge of the sweatshirt or twisting his scarf tails. Alfred crossed his legs and worked on finishing his pizza while he thought about Ivan’s behavior, which was pretty obviously strange. 

“Hey Ivan, why’re ya so quiet all of a sudden?” Alfred asked, deciding it was best to get an answer now instead of dwelling on it for too long. Ivan looked up, surprised to have Alfred talk to him, despite the fact that Alfred was the only reason he was here. Ivan looked back down, his hands now tapping his legs in no certain order.

“I think I might’ve overreacted,” muttered Ivan, continuing his mindless tapping.

Alfred shrugged, “Maybe. But he was being kind of a dick.”

Ivan looked up, seeming surprised to hear Alfred curse. Alfred laughed, “Don’t worry bud, I don’t do it often.” Ivan flushed and buried his face in his scarf, though he quickly recovered and flashed Alfred a small grin. Alfred returned it and finished off his pizza, watching as Ivan began to eat his salad. He glanced up again and watched as Ludwig was trying best to help Gilbert get rid of all the corn. He snickered as Ludwig leapt up from his seat to grab some paper towels, scurrying back as quickly as possible. Ludwig probably shouldn’t have been going as fast as he as was, or maybe he should’ve just paid more attention, because he ended up tripping and dropping all the paper towels. Gilbert, of course, was quick to get over to help, as well as Feliciano. 

Gilbert scooped up all the paper towels while Feliciano reached down to help Ludwig up. Ludwig grabbed Feliciano’s hand and was pulled up, a little surprising, considering how weak Feliciano is. 

“Ah! Your knee!” Feliciano cried, pointing to said knee.

Ludwig winced as he glanced down at the scrape on his knee. “It’s nothing really. I’ve had worse. One time I fell off a swing and broke my arm. I got a concussion when I was five. No big deal,” Ludwig ground out, though he looked like he was about to cry. Feliciano gave a horrified gasp, having never hurt himself in any serious way.

"Wow, Luddy must be like, really susceptible to pain,” Alfred muttered, causing Ivan to giggle. 

“West, your pants,” Gilbert said, pointing at his brother’s shorts, which were falling down a bit and showing the top of his underwear. Ludwig gasped and pulled them up, revealing more of his his bloodied knee. Gilbert laughed as he wiped corn juice off of his clothes. Feliciano flushed as he stared at Ludwig, feeling a little warm. He shifted on his feet, tugging on the bottom of his shirt. Feliciano backed away a little, shuffling towards his seat as Gilbert approached his brother. 

“Oi West, I think you’re going to have to go to the nurse for that,” Gilbert mused, still struggling to clean his clothes. 

Ludwig groaned as he fixed his belt, his shorts shifting and revealing the top of his underwear once more. Feliciano almost choked on the air. “I don’t want to go to the nurse, bruder! Mrs.Karpusi is so weird!” Ludwig whined, fastening his belt, to Feliciano’s relief. Had his pants alway felt this small? He whimpered as he dove for his seat, sliding past Kiku and throwing his arms across the table.

Gilbert laughed, “Relax Lud, Feli can go with you.”

Feliciano wanted to scream, but luckily he didn’t have to. “NO!” Lovino screeched, causing everyone to flinch.

“Calm down Lovi, why won’t you let him?” Alfred sighed, eating the corn from Ivan’s tray. Lovino scowled at Alfred, though that didn’t stop Ivan from recoiling from the glare. Lovino crossed his arms and huffed.

“That potato bastard is a terrible influence on my fratello, so no, he will not be going. The other potato can go with him, they are brothers anyway,” Lovino hissed. 

“What?! I’m still trying to clean off all this corn juice!” Gilbert whined, instantly knowing his place as the second potato. 

Lovino rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. That was completely your fault, and if you hadn’t done that, potato bastard wouldn’t have his knee all bloody, so suck it up and go with him.” 

Gilbert growled before slouching and throwing his arm around Ludwig’s shoulder. “Let’s go, West,” he sighed, pulling a limping Ludwig with him. Feliciano sighed in relief, patting his hands on the table to a tune he’d heard yesterday. He looked over to Kiku, and flushed as the sly grin Kiku was giving him. Kiku opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off.

“Hey Keeks! Ivan doesn’t believe me about that time I totally destroyed you in mortal kombat! You have to tell him about it!” Alfred cried, shoving more corn from Ivan’s tray into his mouth. 

Kiku gave a small laugh, “That’s because it never happened.”

“WHAT?! OF COURSE IT HAPPENED!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone proposed to me I had to throw out another chapter  
you have not lived until you have listened to one of France's character songs


	9. It's a Really Good Book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> actual project discussion time  
Alfred is dying  
Wildwood is a good book :))))))))))))

Alfred dropped his things onto his desk, flopping into his seat while Ivan slid into the seat beside him. Ivan’s lips curled into a smile as he looked at Alfred, playing with the ends of his scarf. Alfred figured it must be some kind of habit for him, as he was always doing it. Alfred grinned back, sitting up more in his seat as their teacher walked to the front of the class.

“For the next week or two, the class will be working on your book project, as you know,” Mrs.Maxinimum started, a broad smile finding its way onto her face. “But, you will only be working on it in class for a few days, the rest of the project is to be done at home,” she continued, reaching for a clipboard on the table beside her. She flipped through a couple of the pages on the clipboard, adjusting the clip and grabbing a pen. The students who had started whispering to their partners quickly quieted as Mrs.Maxinimum turned to the class once again. “I’ll give you a couple minutes to choose a book with your partner, if you haven’t already,

The very second she finished speaking, the class erupted into chaos. Kids cried out and attacked each other with pencils, some even throwing their library books. The reason for this chaos was unknown, but Mrs.Maxinimum didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all and let it keep going. She probably knew that in the end, the kids goofing off were the ones going to get an F.

Alfred glanced around, finding comfort in the few people actually trying to work and come to a conclusion with their partners. He turned back to Ivan, his face flushed a little from how close they were. It was a little ridiculous, as they weren’t that close together, but Alfred didn’t really care at this point, he was just so happy. At first, he had been worried, but now he was pretty confident that he could handle himself around Ivan, as long as he didn’t surprise him with something so adorable that Alfred literally exploded.

“So, yesterday you said you didn’t really hear what Mrs.M said the project was about, so I’ll tell you!” Ivan beamed, resting his elbows on the desk and setting the heels of his shoes on the bar on their plastic chairs. Ivan tugged on his sleeves before continuing, “So, basically we have to decide on a book, make a powerpoint about it, describing it in great detail. We’re going to be revealing the ending, too, so remember that. We also have to choose an important or powerful scene in the book and act it out. We don’t have to do it exactly, we can paraphrase and stuff, we just have to be able to convey what the scene is about,” Ivan paused, grabbing one of his mechanical pencils and tapping it on the table. “My least favorite part is the summary we have to write for Mrs.M, though we don’t really have to go into too much detail for that, as it’s not as important as the other parts.” 

Alfred nodded, slouching in his seat. “So basically we’re just telling the class about a book we chose?” asked Alfred, not too enthusiastic about the project. Ivan nodded eagerly, brushing his hair out of his face as he grinned.

“Yep! That’s pretty much it, it won’t be too hard,” Ivan said, rocking in his seat, “I actually have an idea of the book I want to pick! I really love reading, so it was kind of hard to pick, but I managed.” Ivan reached over for his belongings, where a book rested atop his binder and chromebook. “In the end though, I thought it best to go with the book I’m currently reading, so that way I won’t forget anything about it! What do you think?” Ivan asked, now holding his book to his chest.

“That’s probably a good idea, I know that after I read a book the events just kind of blend together in my mind, the characters do a little, too,” Alfred agreed, tapping his fingers to the tune Ivan was previously. Ivan beamed and wiggled more in his seat, clutching his book tighter as his face flushed in happiness. Alfred blushed as well, looking away to avoid Ivan’s gleeful gaze. Ivan really was just too cute.

“The book I’m reading is Wildwood, and it’s really good! I think there’s only one copy in the library, but I can lend you mine so you can catch up! We could also read it together, if you want,” said Ivan, now sliding the book across the desk towards Alfred. Alfred’s face turned red at the thought of him and Ivan sitting next to each other and holding a book together, taking turns flipping the page, their hands occasionally brushing. God, he was going to lose his mind. “And don’t worry,” Ivan continued, “Mrs.M has left the class plenty of time to read a book with their partner and then get the rest done, and we’ll have a bit of an advantage as well, because I’m already halfway through the book!” 

Alfred raised an eyebrow skeptically as he picked up the book. “It’s a little big, isn’t it? I mean, I can read pretty fast, but are you sure we can finish this book in time?” he asked as he examined the book’s cover.   
Ivan nodded, still as eager as ever and keeping his obedient puppy look. “Of course! We’re both in all honors, and we can both read fast, so we can do it. Besides, I know a few of the kids in this class are picking longer books, and they haven’t even started them yet, so we’re good,” Ivan reassured, flashing Alfred a grin.

Alfred couldn’t help but return the smile as his face flushed once again. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, unsure of what to do with himself in this situation. Every other time he’d have a crush, he was never really this close to them, or even friends with them, so he didn’t know how to handle himself. The rest of the room turned fuzzy, and the sounds muffled. Alfred stared into Ivan’s violet eyes, wondering what was going through Ivan’s mind as he stared back. His mouth went dry as Ivan’s smile broadened and his eyelids fluttered. Alfred realized he was leaning in a bit, and honestly, that was not ideal.

And so, Alfred began trying to slide back into his seat normally with throwing himself backwards in shock like some retarded anime character. He still had the book in his hand, and was now clutching it like a lifeline as he inched backwards in his seat. He looked away from Ivan in a desperate attempt to hide his face, which, as you can imagine, was bright red. Alfred stopped when he felt his back hit the chair, and even then he refused to look back at Ivan and just kept his eyes glued to the book in his hands.

Ivan giggled, causing Alfred’s heart to skip a beat. “Eager to get reading, huh? Well, I’ll let you go ahead and start now,” Ivan shrugged, turning to face his desk instead of Alfred. 

Alfred nodded, “Yep, I’ll get started on it.”  
Alfred did just that, and opened the book to the first page. He did his best to ignore the cat shaped bookmark that was pressed between the pages further into the book as he positioned himself comfortably in his seat. He sat with his feet on the edge of his seat and his shins pressing into the desk a he slouched backwards in the chair. Once he settled in, he began reading.

OwO

Alfred didn’t know exactly how long he’d been reading, but he was pretty sure it was at least half an hour, and true to his word about his fast reading, he was about 9 chapters in. Ivan had chosen well, because Alfred was actually pretty fond of the book, even though there was still much more for him to read. He shifted in his seat for the thousandth time, glancing to Ivan as he did so.

Ivan was sitting quietly, as he had been this whole time. His notebook was open to the back, and the page was covered in little doodles. Alfred watched as Ivan flipped to another page and began to sketch sunflowers. Alfred slid his makeshift bookmark of a small scrap of paper into the book, but kept it open. He leaned closer to Ivan to get a better look as Ivan continued his work. Alfred stared in awe as Ivan drew each petal and leaf. 

“Those are really good,” Alfred said, startling Ivan. Ivan dropped his pencil as he jumped a little, his head whipping around to stare into Alfred’s eyes. They both flushed as Alfred leaned away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Thank you,” muttered Ivan while he rolled his pencil across the table.   
Alfred nodded. “Of course, and your welcome. They are really good, flowers are pretty hard to draw, but y’know, those are really nice,” Alfred mumbled, gesturing around with his hands in an attempt to better convey his message. Ivan smiled and nodded, turning back to his flowers. Alfred heaved a sigh and closed the book, sliding it towards his binder and notebook. 

“I’ll let you take the book home so you can catch up. I’ll have to come over to your house soon so we can read together,” Ivan said, continuing his work on the sunflowers. Alfred nodded in agreement, though he was pretty sure Ivan didn’t see it. He glanced at the book, but turned back to Ivan again as he let out a nervous chuckle. “Sorry for jumping like that, I just wasn’t expecting you to be there watching me,” Ivan sighed.

“No worries, it’s cool, I would probably be startled too, honestly,” said Alfred, propping his head up with his hands as he watched Ivan. 

“Aren’t you going to keep reading?” Ivan inquired, glancing away from his drawing for a second before returning his gaze to the flowers.

Alfred shook his head, “Nah, the bell’s about to ring here in a few minutes, so I’ll just watch you draw.” Ivan turned his head up to look him in the eyes. Alfred smiled, his grin widening as Ivan’s lips quirked up into a smile in return. Ivan went back to drawing, not seeming to be bothered as Alfred watched intently. Alfred swung his legs in time with Ivan’s own swinging legs. It was rather quiet in the room at this point, with only the sound of book pages being turned and occasional whispers exchanged between partners breaking the silence. Alfred sighed as he looked around the room, his grin softening at the kids sitting together and reading, flipping the pages in rhythmic patterns. 

Alfred looked back down at Ivan and his sunflowers. He relaxed as he stared at Ivan’s soft ashen blonde hair and his pale hands on the notebook page, fascinated by how quickly Ivan’s hand moved across the page. Ivan hummed a quiet tune as he drew, sometimes tapping his fingers to go along with it. It was so peaceful and quiet in the class that Alfred could almost forget everyone else was there and just sit with Ivan by his side. Alfred began humming along with Ivan, his blue eyes softening at the subtle smile that made its way onto Ivan’s face. Alfred grinned, admiring the way Ivan’s pale pink lips curved upwards. He could get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in a little while, the social studies fair was going on and that was like a huge ordeal for me, so I couldn't really work on this  
But I hope you all won't mind, it wasn't that long of gap  
I've had to wait for a new chapter on other fics longer, and I'm sure you have too  
still sorry though ˚▱˚


	10. Pay Attention To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sleepover plans :)

Alfred stuffed his binder, chromebook, and Wildwood into his backpack, grimacing as the kid next to him flailed his arms around, slamming Alfred’s locker shut and trapping his water bottle. Alfred swung his backpack onto his shoulder, shrugging and deciding that it was best to just leave his water bottle in his locker. He turned, unsurprised to see Kiku standing right beside him expectantly. 

“Hey Keeks,” Alfred greeted, beginning his walk to his brother’s locker, Kiku loyally staying by his side. 

“Hello Alfred,” Kiku responded, sounding unusually chipper. Alfred raised an eyebrow, as it was rare for Kiku to show too much emotion. 

“What’s got you in such a good mood? Something in reading?” asked Alfred, doubting he would get too much of an answer. To his surprise, he did, though vague. 

“Yes, I did. As you know, I’m partnered with Heracles, and I asked him what I should do about a problem of mine, and he gave me a very good solution that I am excited to try out,” Kiku said, a proud but reserved smile turning the corners of his lips up. 

Alfred nodded, “You know you could have just asked me, I am your best friend, right?” He smirked, already knowing the answer. 

Kiku rolled his eyes, “You and I both know the answer, Alfred, so stop asking.” “Alright, alright,” Alfred chuckled. “But why didn’t you ask me?”

“Alright, alright,” Alfred chuckled. “But why didn’t you ask me?”

Kiku returned the smirk, his usually empty brown eyes dancing over Alfred’s appearance with an amused gaze. “Heracles has knowledge, not to say that you aren’t smart, it’s just that Heracles has a different type of knowledge. He has a lot of knowledge on like, things,” Kiku groaned as they stopped by Matthew’s locker. “Okay, that didn’t make sense. I’m going to try again. Since Heracles spends most of his time just sitting around quietly, he watches people and how they act, which has to do with my problem, so I asked him. You have some social knowledge, but we’re more brash and out there, you know, just a louder and more excitable person, so your advice would reflect that. Also, asking you wouldn’t have been the best idea, because you only have insight on the actions and habits of a few people. Heracles was the best option.” 

“Huh,” Alfred replied. “You’ve definitely put in plenty of thought.” Kiku nodded as Matthew pushed through the swarm of kids fighting each other for better access to their lockers. Francis appeared out of nowhere, slipping out of the crowd smoothly and going unnoticed by many. Alfred patted his hands on his legs, flashing his friends a smile as Arthur stumbled over. “Y’all ready to go?” asked Alfred, quickening his pats. 

“Of course,” Arthur said.

“Yes,” Kiku agreed.

“Obviously,” snickered Francis. Matthew nodded with him. “Allons-y!” Francis cried, marching for the hallway’s exit. Alfred and the rest followed after, Kiku sliding up next to Alfred. 

“So,” Alfred began, now gripping the straps of his backpack. “What was the answer to your problem?” Kiku took a deep breath, mimicking Alfred tight grip on his bag’s strap. He stopped walking for a moment, eyes boring into the ground. Alfred paused, raising an eyebrow at the top of his friend’s head. “Keeks? Aren’t we going to keep walking?” Alfred asked, standing in front of Kiku as he rocked on his heels. Kiku looked up, eyes hardened in determination as the rest of their friends continued down the hallway, leaving them behind.

“Do you want to play video games when we get home? Your place?” Kiku inquired, his voice rising in pitch towards the end of his query in hopefulness, as if he was certain Alfred would say no. Alfred looked surprised, now both eyebrows raised as he opened his mouth to speak, before closing it again. Alfred looked nothing less than confused, arms swaying limply by his sides. He let out a quick chuckle before he grinned at Kiku, throwing an arm around the shorter boy’s shoulder. 

“Of course Keeks! Always,” he snorted, pushing his glasses up. “You don’t even have to ask.”

“Alfred! Alfred wait!” cried an accented voice. Kiku’s blood turned cold at the sound of the voice, while Alfred’s face lit up as he spun around to face them. Ivan jogged up to them, beaming as he slid to a stop before them. Ivan didn’t seem to notice the cold glare Kiku gave him, and instead focused on Alfred's pinkish face. “Alfred, you won’t believe it! I asked my sister, and she said I could stay the night at your house!” Ivan grinned, clutching his phone to his chest as he leaned forward. Ivan flushed, now leaning away as he tapped his fingers anxiously on his phone case. “I mean, only if you’ll have me,” he mumbled. 

Alfred’s grin widened to the point where it must have hurt his face, but if it did, he showed no signs of it. “I’d love to have you, but I’ll have to check with my mom first,” Alfred nodded, bouncing slightly in excitement. Kiku looked crestfallen, eyes wide and hands swaying limply by his sides.

“But video games,” Kiku objected weakly. Both Ivan and Alfred looked over at him with similar expressions of surprise. It seemed they had forgotten he was there for a moment. Kiku grimaced, understanding how Matthew felt all the time. 

Alfred waved his hand dismissively. “Of course you’re still coming over. I told you we’d play video games, so we will. You might even want to stay the night!” Alfred suggested. Kiku shrugged, turning to continue walking down the hallway. Alfred and Ivan realized that they still had to get to their bus and followed.

“I don’t know, Alfred,” Kiku muttered, refusing to meet Alfred’s gaze. He knew they were best friends, but he just didn’t feel important anymore. Alfred was concerned, as usually Kiku was very attentive during their conversations, but Kiku seemed off now. He had been just fine before, so what was different now? Alfred groaned internally, combing through his memories of the past few minutes to see what could have caused Kiku’s change in behavior. It suddenly hit Alfred as he glanced to Ivan as he trotted along beside him. It was Ivan, wasn’t it? They needed to straighten some things out so Kiku wouldn’t feel the way he was, Alfred assumed it to be feeling left out. He figured it would be best to talk with him about it on the bus, as the ride to the high school and then back to their neighborhood was plenty of time.

“Come on Keeks, it’ll be fun! You were the one who suggested video games, and I bet Francis will hear about the little sleepover we’re having and will invite himself over, so it’ll be even more fun!” Alfred said, determined to have Kiku over. Kiku looked up finally, his eyes uncertain before he hardened his expression.

“Alright then,” Kiku agreed, his voice as passive as he could make it, though he couldn’t stop a small bit of excitement from leaking out. Kiku’s lips curled up into a small smile as they exited the front doors, continuing on their way to the bus. 

Alfred turned to Ivan, grinning at Ivan’s absentminded humming. “I’ll text my mom on the bus to see if it’s cool with her, but my mom’s pretty chill, so it’s pretty much set in stone, y’know?” said Alfred. Ivan’s eyes popped back over to Alfred, a smile gracing his lips as he nodded in approval. Alfred beamed, finally jogging over to their bus to be the first of their small group to get on. Alfred walked past his usual seat with Matthew and slid into Kiku’s seat, winking at Kiku’s confused expression. He waved as Ivan walked past to his seat towards the back with Natalia. Alfred was glad everyone had made it so he could sit with Kiku, but he would have to move back to his seat with Matthew once they arrived at the high school.

Their bus driver closed the bus’s doors, starting up the bus once again. The children immediately burst into noise, chatting loudly with the kids around them. The occasional scream was always silenced by the bus driver shouting for them to quiet, which they always did, but never for long. Kiku kept his confused expression as Alfred took his backpack off and dropped it to the bus’s floor. Kiku sat with his back facing the aisle way, one of his backpack straps falling off as his bag sagged behind him. Alfred swung one of his legs up onto the seat, mimicking Kiku’s position. 

“Care to explain why you’re in my seat?” hummed Kiku, arms now crossed. Alfred gave a confident and determined grin, tapping his fingers to a made up tune on the seat. 

“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Alfred said, his tapping fingers quickening in pace.

“What?” hissed Kiku, leaning away from Alfred slightly in surprise.

Alfred shrugged, leaning back and resting his head against the window. “It might not be exactly jealousy, but I think you don’t like me hanging around Ivan. Either that or you just hate Ivan, but you aren’t really the spiteful type,” Alfred mused, pulling his raised leg closer to his chest. Kiku flushed, avoiding Alfred’s gaze. “Was I right?” Kiku’s face turned redder in embarrassment, his brown eyes darting around to inspect every detail of the bus’s dirty gray floor. “Well? Was I? You can’t just leave me hangin, Keeks,” Alfred sighed, letting his legs flop back down again. 

Kiku hesitated before nodding slightly, the movement just barely noticeable, even for Alfred, who was watching as intently as he could. “I guess it could be considered a form of jealousy,” Kiku muttered, fiddling with his shoelace. Alfred nodded, encouraging Kiku to elaborate. Kiku gave a weak smile as he looked up, his hands going limp as he took another breath. “I understand that there are differences in the way you treat people, and that those ways might change based on how much time you have and the other people you wish to spend that time on. But, I don’t want you spending time on other people. And, and I know this is irrational, because it’s just so unfair to everyone else, but I just want you to treat me the same no matter what, and I want to feel special. Like I’m your best friend, truly. Like I’m the only one that matters,” he mumbled, eyes downcast once again.

Kiku heaved a sigh, slouching over as Alfred mulled his words over in his head. Alfred hummed, “I guess I can understand how you feel, I used to feel that way about Ivan before we were friends, but I’ve figured it out now. It’s different, for sure.” He waved his hands a little as he struggled to put his thoughts into words. “It’s like, you want me to stay your friend for like, ever, right?” Alfred asked hopefully. Kiku nodded, sitting up straighter as Alfred continued. “So yes, I’ll still be your best friend, because y’know, it’s different with Ivan. A different goal, I mean. Like, not friends. Well, yes friends, but like, more? Wait no, that sounds weird. Uh,” he mumbled, one hands still gesturing around while the other ran through his hair. 

Kiku chuckled, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth as Alfred scowled. “Hey, don’t laugh of my struggles!” he scolded playfully. “They’re serious and need to be considered, not made fun of!” Kiku laughed again, this time letting his hands fall down to his knees.

“I think I understand, we’ll still be the same with our friendship, yes?” Kiku inquired, brushing a tuft of hair from his face. Alfred nodded, his expression exasperated as Kiku giggled again. “And, concerning Ivan, you’re, how do I put this, pursuing his affections?”   
Alfred flushed, freezing all movements and thoughts as Kiku continued to laugh. He let out a nervous chuckle as Kiku smirked. The bus slid to a stop in front of the high school, getting into line with the other buses perfectly. Alfred gave a small sigh of relief, but stopped the second he grabbed his backpack. 

“I’m not letting you leave until you answer, Alfred,” said Kiku, a twisted grin (from Alfred’s point of view) spread across his face. Alfred gulped, throwing his backpack on as he glanced around. He looked down at his shoes, hands clenched into fists as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Maybe,” he squeaked, face bright red as he tapped his foot anxiously.

“That’s all I needed to hear,” Kiku responded. Alfred could practically hear the grin in his voice as Kiku moved out of the way. Alfred leapt out of the seat, running down the aisle way on his way to his shared seat with Matthew, an unwise decision as there was little space for running and he ended up hitting Roderich in the face. Alfred threw himself into the seat, ignoring Roderich’s muffled cries of pain, as well as Matthew’s quiet complaints. Matthew lifted a brow at Alfred flushed face, shifting to give himself more room.

“Does Kiku know now?” asked Matthew, his voice bland and empty as he tapped his fingers on his chin.

“Maybe,” Alfred said, pulling out his phone.

“You’re not very good at keeping secrets,” Matthew sighed with a shake of his head.

Alfred’s face reddened, if it was even possible.

“Maybe,” he muttered.

“So you’re having a sleepover now or something?” Matthew hummed, pushing his glasses up.

“Maybe,” Alfred responded.

Mathew was not impressed. “Yeah okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!  
it's been longer than I thought since I last uploaded a chapter!!!!!  
I'm sorry!!!  
I hope it wasn't too long of a wait for you  
I know it wasn't too long but I still feel bad about it  
:(


	11. Creek?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more plans for friendship party party  
don't forget about keeks  
he exists  
creek creek
> 
> sorry kinda short chap :/

Alfred jumped down the bus steps, stumbling and almost falling because of his horrible decision making. Matthew followed at a much calmer pace, and he was actually paying attention, unlike Alfred who was staring at his phone. Matthew jogged to catch up to Alfred, letting out a heavy sigh as Alfred didn’t even acknowledge his presence. He rolled his eyes, shoving his hands into his hoodie’s pocket. Here ran Ivan, bright smile plastered across his face accompanying his quiet giggles. 

“Alfred! Aaaaaalfreeeeeeed!” called Ivan. Alfred’s head shot up instantly, eyes eager and smile ready. His gaze landed on Ivan as he slowed to a stop before Alfred. Matthew sighed again, turning his eyes to the other kids walking past, ignoring the no doubt boring conversation going on beside him. There was Feliciano and Ludwig, Ludwig with his bandaged knee and Feliciano’s face flushed. Wait a minute, were they holding hands?  
“Right Mattie? Mattie!” Alfred yelled, though he really didn’t need to.

Matthew spun around, wincing at Alfred’s unneeded shout. “Huh? What?” Matthew asked. Alfred did the most exaggerated eye roll Matthew had ever seen. Ivan burst into a fit of giggles as Alfred repeated what he had said earlier.

“I saaaaaaaid, this sleepover is gonna be fun, right?” Alfred seemed a little nervous, his voice shaking slightly and raising in pitch as he squeaked out his last word.

Matthew squinted at his brother, forgetting for a moment what he was talking about. The second his brain registered the question he grinned and nodded enthusiastically. He pulled a hand from his pocket, throwing his arm around Alfred’s shoulders and flashing Ivan a smile and a wink.

“It’s gonna be fantastic. You’re going to love it, Ivy. Alfred and I will make sure of it, right Al?” Matthew snickered, knocking his head against Alfred’s lightly. Ivan giggled. Alfred flushed and glanced to his feet, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he nodded shyly. Matthew struggled to hold back his laughter, determined to stay put until a certain someone arrived from his slow walk away from the bus.

“Oh? A sleepover?” Francis purred. And there he was. Matthew was barely containing his excitement as Francis waltzed over, backpack hanging off by one strap. Matthew bounced anxiously, tightening his grip on Alfred’s shoulder. Alfred winced, glaring at Matthew.

“You heard right, my flamboyant Frenchman. We ARE having a sleepover! And guess what? I am 100% certain that our mother would just love to have you over as well. You’re always a delight!” said Matthew. 

Francis smirked. “Why, I think that sounds like a lovely idea. I am, as I love to put it, officially everyone’s big brother, and one cannot have a sleepover without their big brother, right Ivan?” Francis asked. 

Ivan tugged his scarf up, his face red from all the giggling and snickering as he struggled to get his words out. “Of course! You’re a really great friend, so I have no idea as to how you’d make a bad big brother,” Ivan beamed, letting his scarf fall back into its natural place as he flashed Francis a grin. Francis returned the gesture, though his much calmer and gentler, a fond look in his eye and a quiet sigh slipping from his lips. He seemed to get lost in Ivan’s expression, smile getting fainter and fainter by the second, though the happiness never draining from his face. Alfred narrowed his eyes at Francis, shrugging off Matthew’s arm and clearing his throat. 

Francis snapped back to attention, his grin returning. “Alright then, I’ll walk Ivan home, he can gather a bag, as will I, and you two can run on home to prepare. I’ll walk Ivan over to your house, so no need to worry. Ta-ta!” he said. A distinctly British scoff could be heard in the distance, father down the street, but Alfred and Matthew chose to ignore it. Ivan and Francis, however, seemed to find it quite amusing. Matthew nodded in agreement with Francis’s statement, grabbing Alfred’s hand and pulling him down the street towards their house.

Matthew, in his infinite wisdom, knew that bidding farewell to your comrades and then walking in the very same direction as them would be awkward, so he dragged Alfred down the street as fast as could. Francis and Ivan seemed to be taking their time, making Matthew’s escape with his brother even more successful. They slowed down as they neared their home, and Matthew found this the best opportunity to start up a conversation with his disgruntled brother.

“This might sound a bit controversial, but I think that went rather well,” Matthew mused, tugging on the sleeve of Alfred’s jacket. Alfred groaned, burying his face in his hands as Matthew continued to drag him along. Matthew shrugged, carefree smile plastered across his face. “I think that with the addition of Francis, it’ll be great. Four people is a lot for a nice fun sleepover,” said Matthew.

“Five,” Alfred sighed.

Matthew raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“There’s gonna be five. Kiku is coming, remember?” Alfred mumbled

“Haha ye, he is gonna be there. The more the merrier!” Matthew laughed, running a hand through his hair. Alfred glared at him again, as he had been for a while now. Matthew chuckled again, ruffling his brother’s hair with a grin. “Oh come on, you gloomy goose, it’ll be fun!”

“What are you, six?” Alfred snorted, pulling out his phone. 

Matthew laughed, “Maybe.” He watched his twin unlock his phone. “Whatcha doin?” he asked.

Alfred rubbed his eye. “Got a notification,” he said simply.

Matthew nodded. “Oh hey, that reminds me. Are we gonna go to the creek?” 

Alfred raised an eyebrow. “Creek?”

Matthew nodded again, this time more enthusiastic. “Yeah, the creek! Remember, there’s that big ol creek behind our house. Well, it goes behind other houses, but I’m pretty sure we can most easily access it through our backyard,” Matthew paused, glancing to his brother. Alfred thought for a moment, before remembering and nodding quickly. Matthew continued, “Anyway, the point was, are we going to the creek? Maybe we could tell them to bring bathing suits, because we swim there all the time. I know it’s been chilly lately, but it’s really warm today, and the forecast says tomorrow will be really warm too.”

“And how did me opening my phone remind you of that?” Alfred inquired, his tone amused. The brother’s turned into the driveway and began walking to their door as Matthew started talking again.

“I was just thinking that, if we were going to go to the creek, it would be best for you to text them to bring bathing suits before it’s too late.” Matthew shrugged, running the last few feet to their front door, Alfred following. Alfred nodded thoughtfully as he turned the doorknob.

“Yeah, I’ll do that,” Alfred said, holding the door open for Matthew.

“Rad,” replied Matthew. “Creek creek.”

“Creek creek,” Alfred agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am very of the sorry  
it's been like two weeks I think, which is longer than I usually do, so now I feel bad  
I was having a really rough time finding the motivation to do anything, and now I guess I was too sad around my mom and I might be going to a psychiatrist, so like :/  
Anyway, the point is I'm sorry for the wait and I have lots of motivation and ideas for the next chapter and later chapters, and I've already started the next chapter so the wait shouldn't be long  
:)


	12. Party Rock Is In The House Tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mattie's all tired out from being the best brother last chapter  
creek creek soon  
I'm actually dead :)

Alfred, with no other ideas, set about gathering snacks for his friends’ arrival. Ivan, Francis, and Kiku had all been informed of their creek plans, and were bringing bathing suits. Alfred’s mom had raised an eyebrow when she heard them talking about their creek plans as they entered, but had an otherwise mild reaction. Alfred was struggling with the idea of Ivan in a bathing suit, and was trying to plan out a normal and regular reaction why placing his snacks on the coffee table. Matthew had decided it was his job to laze about on the couch and watch the expressions that crossed Alfred’s face during his inner turmoil. He’d started snacking on some chips Alfred had grabbed.

“Hey, don’t you think cleaning up a little bit might be a good idea? Like, how many snacks do we need,” Matthew suggested through a mouthful of potato chips.

Alfred dropped yet another bag of chips onto the coffee table with a groan. He wiped his face, scowling at Matthew. “But what if Ivan wants barbecue chips? What am I supposed to do if Ivan wants barbecue chips and they aren’t out, Matthew? My dear brother, what on earth am I supposed to do?” Alfred hissed.

“Go grab them?” Matthew responded, leaning to the side to see the TV behind his brother.

“You are the worst person I’ve ever met,” Alfred sighed, turning to leave for the kitchen, most likely to grab more chips. 

“Your anger is misdirected,” Matthew called, grabbing another fistful of chips.

Alfred rolled his eyes as he entered the kitchen, pausing to reevaluate his actions. He figure that, yes, in a way, perhaps a little bit, Matthew was right. They did have enough snacks, and there was still cleaning to do. Alfred rolled up his sleeves and pried open the cabinet beneath the sink, searching for clorox wipes. He found them quickly, and was soon wiping off every surface he deemed unclean. Once done with the kitchen, he disposed of his dirty wipes and made his way to the living room. His eyes darted about the room, finding every piece of trash or dusty table. 

Alfred grabbed the snacks, curling his arms all around them and waddling over to his brother. Matthew raised an eyebrow, a new handful of chips in hand, some falling from between his fingers. Alfred, without warning, dropped all the snacks on Matthew. Matthew, very quiet by nature, made a sound nothing more than a squeak. Alfred did his very best not to laugh as he spun around and began cleaning the living room. The sound of chip bags shifting and crumpling behind him told him that Matthew was trying to escape.

“A little help? I don’t wanna drop these on the floor, I know one of them is open, but I can’t tell which one,” Matthew said. Alfred turned around again, wipes in hand. 

Alfred said, grinning, “You’ll just have to wait a little bit. I have cleaning to do, so be a little patient.” Matthew narrowed his eyes at Alfred. Alfred beamed back, before returning to cleaning. Matthew sighed and relaxed under his chip bag prison. 

Alfred soon finished with the living room. Once he deemed it clean, he returned to his brother. 

“Alrighty then, let’s find that open chip bag and get this all cleaned up,” said Alfred.

“I hate you,” replied Matthew. 

Alfred nodded, moving chip bags. “That’s nice.”

00oo00oo00

A knock at the door, and Alfred was up, sprinting across the room and wrinkling the rug.

“Idiot!” Matthew called, pushing himself up from his seat on the couch and crawling over to the large folds in the rug to straighten it out. Alfred, of course, ignored his brother and ran to the door, slamming into the door before fumbling with the lock. He figured it would’ve been best to leave it unlocked, but locking it had just become a reflex at this point. Once he heard the click of the lock, he threw the door open, eager and excited grin plastered across his face. There was all three of his guests, Ivan in the front, clutching a messenger bag with sunflowers stitched into it Kiku behind him to the right, another messenger bag, this one made to look like a cat with two large pouches on the front as eyes, on his shoulder. Francis in the back, his bag much the same as Ivan and Kiku’s, this one white with rose patterns splayed across the fabric.

Ivan greeted Alfred with a nervous but joyful smile. “Privet!” he said, gripping the straps of his bag tighter, his knuckles whitening. 

“Hello,” Kiku said, followed by a nod.  
“Bonjour!” Francis beamed, his eyes sparkling as his flipped his hair and winked. Ivan giggled, Alfred joined with his own laughter, and Kiku smiled fondly.

Alfred stepped aside, gesturing inwards. “Come on in!” Ivan nodded and entered, followed quickly by his two companions. ”I like your bag,” Alfred mumbled while Ivan passed, his face flushing as he glanced away. Ivan smiled, his violet eyes dancing in the sun’s light, making Alfred’s heart beat faster.

“Thank you,” Ivan whispered back, his voice calm and gentle. Alfred felt like he could melt. He knew his face was burning as Kiku raised a brow and Francis smirked. Alfred closed the door behind his friends, running ahead of Ivan into the living room. Matthew was still on the floor, struggling to flatten the rug. 

“What are you doing? Get up!” hissed Alfred.

Matthew scowled, shoving down another fold. “This is your fault!” 

Alfred, panicking, stomped on the largest fold. The rug, somehow, straightened out. Alfred waved his hands at Matthew, who took this as a signal to stand. He leapt to his feet milliseconds before Ivan, Francis, and Kiku entered the living room. Matthew sighed.

“You can take your shoes off,” Alfred said, rubbing the back of his neck. All of them nodded, doing so immediately. Matthew went back to lounging around on the couch, grabbing a spare chip bag on his way. Alfred narrowed his eyes and watched his every move as Kiku showed Ivan and Francis where to put there shoes, as he had been there the most. Alfred stopped scrutinizing his brother’s every action and grinned at his guests. 

“Alright, so I can go ahead and show you where to put your bags, which is where we’ll be sleeping,” said Alfred.

“Basement,” stated Kiku.

Alfred chuckled, “You, my friend, are correct. Let’s go!”

Alfred swung his arm in an arc, spinning around and walking off in the direction of the basement door. His guests followed, Ivan giving Matthew a shy wave as they passed, which Matthew of course returned. They walked to the basement door, Alfred opening it and trotting down the stairs, flicking the light switch at the bottom. Kiku followed quickly, Francis taking Ivan’s bag before they both followed as well. They reached the bottom, Alfred with his arms spread wide as if to present his basement. 

“Welcome to the basement!” Alfred grinned. The basement wasn’t very cluttered, though it was a bit small. A couch, two chairs accompanying it, all wine red. A dark gray blanket rested on the back of the couch, matching pillows in both chairs as well as the couch. A circle rug with rings of black and red going inward lay underneath the black coffee table between the TV stand and the couch. A PS4 and an Xbox one sat upon the black TV stand, a little too close to the edge to make room for the TV. A sliding glass door covered in smudges rested in the far wall, heavy gray curtains pulled to the side.

“Wow, I didn’t know you had two gaming systems! And nice ones too,” Ivan exclaimed, poking at the power buttons as he stared in awe.

“Rich boy,” Kiku snorted as he dropped his bag by the foot of one of the chairs. Francis nodded in agreement, placing his and Ivan’s bags on the couch. 

“Yeah yeah, whatever. That’s not the point here, the point is we can have fun times and also let’s go have snacks because I’m hungry,” Alfred said, rolling his eyes. Kiku nodded in agreement, as did Francis. 

Ivan’s face lit up as he clapped his hands quietly, bouncing on his heels. “That sounds like a great idea, I know I’m pretty hungry too,” he said, now gripping his scarf. 

Alfred smiled fondly, cheeks tinted a light pink as he glanced away momentarily. “Yeah, let’s go,” chuckled Alfred, heart racing for a moment as Ivan beamed at him. Ivan spun around, skipping off for the stairs. Francis followed him, a smile similar to Alfred’s curling his lips upwards. Alfred narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms as Kiku slid up next to him.

“Suspicious,” Alfred hissed under his breath.

Kiku rolled his eyes, heading for the stairs and tugging Alfred with him. “Calm down, I’m sure Francis has only platonic feelings for Ivan,” he sighed, struggling to pull Alfred along.

“How do you even know what I was suspicious about? I didn’t even tell you,” Alfred asked, finally moving forward by himself and letting his arms fall to his sides.

“I can be observant. I noticed both Francis’s momentary dreamy looks directed at Ivan, and you staring at him every time he did it,” Kiku replied, giving a small shrug as well.

Alfred groaned, “But you just called them dreamy looks! I give Ivan dreamy looks! How could Francis’s dreamy looks be any different from mine!” 

“Well you could’ve started with that! It would’ve avoided any confusion!” Alfred grumbled as they reached the top, heading for the living room.

“I could’ve, but I didn’t,” Kiku said, walking calmly into the living room. Alfred harrumphed and crossed his arms again, forgetting his frustration seconds later once he saw the snacks. Of course, in the incredibly short span of time between suggesting snacks and going up the stairs, Alfred had forgotten about the snacks. He sat down on the couch in between Matthew and Ivan, immediately grabbing a handful of chips and gobbling them up. Ivan giggled beside him, Kiku shaking his head as he slid into the chair. Francis had sat himself on the armrest by Ivan and was currently surfing through the TV channels as Matthew shot down every channel he suggested.

With every declined suggestion, Ivan laughed, growing louder and more intense with each one. Alfred joined in, face burning and heart beating faster with every burst of melodious laughter from Ivan. Ivan’s face was flushed from all the giggling, and it was a sight that set Alfred’s heart aflame. 

Finally, Francis sighed, setting the remote down, expression downcast. “If Matthieu doesn’t want to watch anything, then what will we do?” he moaned, draping an arm around Ivan’s shoulder.

“Why are you saying it like that,” Alfred asked, confused.

“Does it matter?” sighed Matthew.

“What will we dooooo?” Francis wailed, resting his head on Ivan’s as he wrapped his arm all the way around Ivan’s neck. Ivan giggled, reaching up and holding Francis’s arm, looking to Alfred and Matthew for answers.

“Swim?” Matthew suggested with a shrug, grabbing a fistful of chips.  


“Yes,” Francis grinned, gently pulling his arm away from Ivan before he leapt up. “We swim! Agreed?” Kiku nodded his approval, Matthew shrugging again to show his neutrality. Ivan smiled, nodding enthusiastically as he munched on small chocolate chip cookie. “So it’s settled then, we swim!” Francis beamed, hands fisted at his hips. Alfred sat, his mind now processing the fact that he would be seeing Ivan in a bathing suit. He wondered, for a moment, what type of bathing suit it might be, or how it might fit, what pattern or design would it have. He quickly shushed those thoughts everyone stood.

“I guess we’ll put on our bathing suits under out clothes and grab some towels. I’ll go tell our mom that we’ll be gone,” said Matthew, turning to leave the living room. 

“You do that,” Kiku replied, going with Francis and Ivan to the basement to grab their bathing suits. Alfred stayed put for a moment, once more struggling with the idea of Ivan in a bathing suit. He ran his hands through his hair, groaning quietly for a moment before standing. His bathing suit was upstairs with Matthew’s, so he turned to grab it. He froze again, mind flooding with images of Ivan in every bathing suit imaginable. He groaned once more, the urge to punch himself in the forehead almost too overpowering. Alfred let his head hang, beating himself up internally for not being able to focus. If he this up, nothing would go well.

“Fuck,” he whispered, shuffling across the rug to the stairs, leaving wrinkles galore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  
I hope you've enjoyed  
I'm always tired  
sad too  
but like this is fun and a lot of people like it and I've never really acknowledged it  
it's really nice  
I never thought it's that good, I didn't think I could write that good cuz I'm still in middle school  
so this is nice  
anyway  
ah ffffff pu   
have a nice day or night :)   
just depends on where you are or when you're reading this  
it's like 8 pm where I am tho so like :)))))))


	13. Creek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it is time  
for   
the  
CREEK  
but anyway, this is like 0_0 for that bathing suit like this is just me going all out because it makes me heart go boom boom  
don't wanna spoil it but like  
Ivan being girly, to say the least  
I'm gonna guess that you don't really care, but I thought I'd mention it just in case someone didn't read the tags and couldn't figure out that I think Ivan is a bottom when they read this story  
this chapter turned out longer than I meant it be, I hope no one minds  
anyway, have fun :)

Alfred clambered down the stairs, towel in hand. He skidded to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, running into the living room. Ivan and Matthew sat on the couch, Francis leaning on the armrest and telling a story, Kiku listening from his chair. Alfred grinned at his friends, all dressed in their shirt and swim trunks, except for Ivan. 

Ivan was wearing the same clothes he was wearing before, the same clothes he was wearing at school. His cat hoodie, his scarf, just the same. Alfred thought, briefly, that it was strange, but brushed the thought away to focus on his other friends once more.

“There you are!” Francis beamed, pushing himself up from the armrest and striding over to Alfred. He threw an arm around Alfred’s shoulder, his other hand on his hip. “You ready to go?” 

Alfred looked at everyone else, expressions eager and excited as they waited for Alfred’s answer. He grinned and nodded, turning to look at Francis. “Let’s go, shall we?” he snickered. Francis smiled back, moving his arm from Alfred’s shoulder to flick his hair for no particular reason.

“Off we go then,” Matthew said, a bag with towels and such and other items in his grip. Alfred and Matthew turned and lead the way to their back door, walking around the kitchen table and stumbling over cat food dishes. They slid open the sliding glass door, waltzing out onto their patio. A tall, wooden fence lined the edges of their backyard, a gate in the very back, left unlocked. The boys marched to the gate, swinging it open. Kiku, the last in line, closed the gate behind him before he kept walking.

Alfred grinned, arms up as he held his towel on his head. He walked down the path, followed by Matthew, Ivan, Francis, and finally Kiku. Ivan held himself close, glancing around nervously into the woods, flinching as bugs hopped and scampered past. Francis patted Ivan’s head, and Ivan relaxed slightly. Alfred glanced back at his friends, flashing Ivan an encouraging smile. Ivan smiled back, soft and tender, eyelashes fluttering like falling snowflakes. Alfred’s smile widened into a grin as he flushed, quickly turning back to face the front as he cheeks reddened even more. 

They continued down the path for a little while longer, once jumping over a fallen tree, a comment from Alfred consisting of nothing more than mild disinterest, “That’s new.” They soon reached the creek, the particular spot where they had chosen to swim one where the steam bulges outwards, rounding out into a sort of small lake before tapering back into its original shape. A frog croaked nearby, tadpoles and the occasional fish flicking past in the water. 

Ivan gasped, running over to the edge of the water, a large flat area of cool rock beneath his feet. “It’s so pretty!” Ivan said, crouching down and splashing his hand in the water. “I didn’t know there were fish here,” he giggled as a fish swam past. 

Matthew nodded, though Ivan didn’t see it, “Yeah, there’s usually fish here. Frogs, too.” Matthew dropped his bag onto the rock area, making sure it was in the shade, flopping down beside it and unzipping it. He pulled out everyone else’s towels, dropping them on the ground beside the bag. He also pulled out a few water bottles, and a snack for himself. 

“You brought snacks?” Alfred asked, unravelling his towel and spreading it out on the ground.

“Correction, I brought snack. It’s for me,” Matthew replied, tearing open his snack of a small bag of chips. Alfred raised an eyebrow, his brother had been eating snacks more often. Plus, what a jerk. Alfred wanted snacks too.

Francis walked over, grabbing his and Ivan’s towels and spreading them out beside each other. Alfred curled up in a ball on his towel, staring at Francis the whole time. He was getting a bit annoyed with Francis, as he kept doing everything for Ivan before Alfred got a chance to. Plus, didn’t Francis know Alfred had a crush on Ivan? And didn’t he encourage it? So then why wasn’t he giving him the opportunity to be a gentleman to Ivan and do things for him?

Kiku unravelled his towel besides Alfred, smiling as Alfred looked to him. Alfred stretched out on his towel before sitting up and grinning at Kiku. Kiku, once he finished smoothing out his towel, sat cross-legged, turning to face Alfred more easily.   
“Aren’t you going to go swim?” Kiku asked, leaning on his legs.

“Of course. Are you?” Alfred responded, now taking off his shirt, it getting caught on his glasses. Kiku nodded, taking off his own shirt, revealing a swim shirt underneath. Alfred snorted as he fixed his glasses, “Forgot you wear a swim shirt.” 

Kiku rolled his eyes, taking off his shoes as he replied with, “Forgot you’re not going to be able to function once Ivan starts swimming.”

“Hey!” Alfred cried, yanking off his shoes. Kiku chuckled as he stood. Alfred harrumphed as he pushed himself up to his feet, crossing his arms as he walked off to the water. Kiku followed him, cover his mouth with his hand as he laughed again. Alfred walked up beside Ivan, hands on his hips as he grinned down at him. Ivan looked up, violet eyes meeting with Alfred’s. Ivan smiled, standing up and brushing himself off before looking back to Alfred. Ivan looked him up and down, his face coloring slightly before he grinned.

“Going to swim now?” Ivan asked, rocking on his heels. Alfred nodded, his own face flushed now. He noticed he didn’t have to look up to meet Ivan’s gaze anymore. Ivan had been about an inch taller than him before, but now it seemed nothing more than a centimeter. Alfred grinned. Had he grown? 

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Ivan spoke again. “Well, have fun. Francis and I will join you soon!” he said, giving a small wave before skipping on over to where Francis stood, one hand on his hip as he smiled fondly in greeting. 

Alfred grinned at him, waving before pointing at him and turning to Kiku. “Did you see that? Not only did he blush a little, but I’m taller now! I’ll be taller than Ivan in no time!” 

Kiku nodded, smiling as he sat down on the edge of the rock and dropping his feet into the water. “I did see,” he replied, “exciting new developments in Alfred’s love life. Plus, taller.” Alfred laughed, sitting down beside Kiku. He looked over to Ivan and Francis. 

He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face as Francis patted Ivan’s head, laughing as Ivan puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms. Francis looked down at Ivan, grinning, before he took off his shirt and sat down. Ivan stood beside him, fiddling with his scarf and saying something to Francis. He looked nervous, but Alfred couldn’t hear what he was saying over the splashes coming from the water in front of him.

“You won’t be as tall as Francis anytime soon, though,” Kiku said, slipping into the creek, the water where he was only going up to his stomach. Alfred’s head snapped back to Kiku, grinning as Kiku shivered in the water. “Colder than I thought it’d be,” Kiku commented, rubbing his arms.

Alfred shrugged, dropping into the water as well. “It’s not that cold. You’ve just gotta get used to it, that’s all,” he said, shaking his arms in the water and laughing as it splashed Kiku. Kiku flinched and threw his arms up as the water splashed onto him. He heard Matthew laugh from his spot in the shade, the crumple of Matthew’s snack wrapper echoing. Alfred laughed too, Kiku frowning and dropping his arms back down.

“That was a little unnecessary,” Kiku said, wading further into the water. It got deeper as he went, he paused not too far from the center with the water around his shoulders. He let his arms float, staring at Alfred as he trudged forward. Once Alfred was close enough, Kiku struck, swing his arms in the water and drenching Alfred. Alfred cried out, stumbling backwards and slipping under the water. He bobbed back to the surface seconds later, scowling.

“You got my glasses wet!” he accused, pointing at Kiku. 

Kiku smirked, “They were going to get wet anyway, so what’s the matter?” 

“He’s got a point!” Matthew shouted from behind them. Kiku laughed, as did Ivan and Francis. Alfred spun around, splashing water in the direction of the slab of rock where Matthew sat. Matthew laughed, spitting water out as he struggled to put his water bottle down without spilling it. “Nice try!” he chuckled, wiping his mouth.

Alfred stuck his tongue out, crossing his arms under the water and curling his legs up. He began to sink, quickly throwing his arms and legs back out and wobbling on his feet. Kiku laughed, and Alfred shot him a disapproving look. Kiku rolled his eyes again and started swimming around, slowly circling the bulge shape in the creek. 

Alfred shook water from his hair, waving his arms out for a moment before he started swimming too. He swam back and forth for a moment before rolling onto his back and paddling along. He stopped and floated, turning his head to look at Ivan.

Ivan was still talking with Francis, though he had just taken off his scarf. Alfred watched as he folded it and placed it neatly by the edge of his towel. Francis gestured to his own towel, and Ivan smiled and picked his scarf up again, handing it to Francis. Francis put the scarf on his towel before turning back to Ivan. Ivan sat down, tugging on his sleeves and squirming. His hand slipped into the hoodie, and Ivan pulled his arms close, stretching them upwards as he pulled off his sweatshirt. 

Alfred’s breath caught in his throat, staring as Ivan dropped his hoodie into Francis’s waiting hands. It wasn’t that Ivan wasn’t wearing a shirt, because his chest was covered. It was that the bathing suit he was wearing covered his chest, the way girl’s bathing suit’s do, the one pieces. Was Ivan wearing a girl’s bathing suit?

Ivan took off his boots, wiggling out of his pants, and tugging off his socks. Alfred’s face was bright red, his heart beating faster than it ever had. Ivan was wearing a one piece bathing suit. One that he thought only girls wore. Ivan turned and took his clothes from Francis and began folding them, and Alfred caught a glimpse of the back of the bathing suit.

It was rather simple, the back solid black with the edges, the parts where it touched Ivan’s skin directly, lilac. The front was purple; stripes, shapes and patterns of violet, lilac, lavender, and amethyst plastered across the front. Occasionally, black and white stripes or circles found their way into the intricate design on Ivan’s swimsuit. Surprisingly, ruffles adorned the bathing suit, around the area where it opened up for the neck, and on the edges where the legs were. 

To Alfred, it didn’t seem strange. It didn’t seem too much like it was for a girl, it didn’t look like it wasn’t supposed to be worn by a boy. It didn’t seem like it didn’t fit. The purples weren’t too powerful or overwhelming, and Ivan didn’t seem out of place in the bathing suit. It seemed like it was made just for Ivan, like no one else could wear it better. It was just Ivan. And Alfred loved it.

Ivan finished folding his clothes, and looked up, his eyes locking with Alfred’s. Alfred blushed, he could imagine that his face was unbelievably red, and jerked his whole body to the side in an attempt to make his flushed face less obvious. Alfred hadn’t been paying attention to where he was floating, and as he floundered in the water, he hit his head on a rock by the border of the water. He heard Ivan laugh, rose bushes of embarrassment and shame blooming on his face. He dipped underwater, quickly surfacing once more.

Alfred kicked his legs as he swished his arms in the water, now only his head bobbing over the water’s ripples. Kiku chuckled as he swam up to him, grinning. Alfred flashed Kiku a nervous smile, glancing back to Ivan. 

Ivan was walking towards the water with Francis, looking up at Francis and talking quietly. Ivan was playing with his hands, cracking his knuckles anxiously. Alfred noticed a long scar running diagonally down Ivan’s arm, and he winced, remembering their incident in third grade. He had done that, had called it even, but now he felt nothing but guilt. He hoped Ivan wasn’t still upset about it.

Ivan looked to Alfred in Kiku as they floated in the water. “Hi! Having fun in there?” he giggled, waving slightly. 

“Yep,” Kiku replied, swimming over until his feet touched the ground again. He plodded over to the edge of the water, folding his arms on the lip of the rock slab where Ivan stood. Ivan crouched down beside him before swinging his legs into the water. Kiku pulled himself up and sat next to Ivan, gesturing for Alfred to come over.

Alfred gulped, collecting himself before wading over to them. He came to a stop on the other side of Ivan, preferring to turn around and lean back on the rock, setting his arms up behind him with his elbows bent. He looked up at Ivan, struggling to keep himself from staring at Ivan’s pale legs that swished in the water beside him. He grinned at Ivan, still blushing.

Francis jumped into the water, startling everyone. Ivan squealed as he was splashed, giggling as Alfred yelped in surprise. Kiku made barely a sound, and Matthew laughed behind them. Francis bobbed to the surface, wiping his wet, yet still fabulous, hair from his face. 

“Aren’t you going to swim, Matthieu?” Francis asked, trudging over to the rest of his friends by the edge of the water.

“I don’t think so. I might sit by the edge, but I can’t really see at all without my glasses, and I don’t wanna get them wet,” Matthew called back, taking a sip of his water.

“Suit yourself!” Alfred called, pushing away from the rock and paddling over to the middle of the water. Ivan laughed, dipping his legs further into the water as Kiku swam off to Alfred. Francis swam to Ivan, said something that caused Ivan to laugh, before he swam off to enjoy himself elsewhere in the creek. Alfred wanted to know what Francis had said, but ignored the nagging thought and plodded over to Ivan. 

“I don’t know if I’ve said this already or not, but I’ve never been to this creek before,” Ivan muttered as he finally dropped all the way into the water. 

“Well, that doesn’t really matter, does it? It’ll still be fun,” Alfred replied, splashing Ivan with water.

Ivan laughed, shivering slightly. “It will be fun, but right now I’m still a little cold,” Ivan said, smiling, “so I think you should go off swimming instead of waiting for me to get accustomed to the water.

Alfred sat there for a moment, thinking, before he grinned at Ivan. “Nah, I think I’ll stay here with you until you’re ready,” he said, eyes sparkling behind the clouded and wet lenses of his glasses. Ivan’s face colored slightly, his violet eyes flicking away momentarily before returning to gaze at Alfred. 

“Thank you,” Ivan mumbled, staring down at his hands. Alfred beamed, blushing as Ivan glanced back up at him. Ivan inched further into the water, Alfred following. Ivan drifted closer to Alfred, his legs brushing Alfred’s. Alfred’s reddened, his hands twitching as he grinned at Ivan. Ivan smiled back, turning to go deeper into the creek.

Eventually, Ivan was floating and bobbing in the water, little splashes wetting the ends of his hair. Ivan giggled as he squirmed in the water, twisting and turning, causing waves and ripples to swirl outward. Alfred laughed, bouncing in the waves Ivan caused. He dove under the water for a moment, his glasses pulling from his face as they floated. Alfred cracked his eyes open, surprised to see Ivan drifting in the water in front of him. Ivan blinked his eyes open, grinning at Alfred before he pushed himself back above the water. 

Alfred did so too, gasping for air once he surfaced. He turned to the giggling Ivan, a confused but unbelievably happy plastered across his face. He didn’t know why Ivan had copied him like that, but it made Alfred’s heart beat faster. He decided he liked it when Ivan did that. Alfred hoped he wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeehaw partner  
new chap how tasty  
also like my thing is being weird and it says the last time I updated this was October 17th, which like, isn't true?? it just won't change  
was wondering if it was doing that for anyone else (probably not), but was also wondering if there was someone out there who wanted to like, post a comment every time I post so I can check that comment to see when I last posted  
I could like pick someone, if they wanna do that  
it doesn't really matter though  
don't wanna force that on anyone  
so, again  
yeehaw partner


	14. But like, why tho??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at night, and I tend to get a little bit 'poetic', one might say, when I write at night, so that's why this chap might be a lil different from others  
also a lil short, but whatever the last chapter was real long, I'm allowed to shove in a short chapter here and there  
anyway  
2 uploads in the span of 2 days!! Cheese!! what are you thinking???  
what am I thinking? the answer is absolutely nothing :)  
enjoy

Ivan and Alfred sat together, side by side, Alfred with his legs out in front of him, and Ivan with his legs crossed on his towel.

They swam for a while, but Ivan had grown tired and thirsty, and had made his out of the water. Alfred followed him, grabbing him a water bottle and an extra towel to dry his own hair. Ivan had sat on his towel and shivered, Alfred decided to give Ivan the towel he had. Ivan wrapped the new towel around his shoulders, clutching the ends together tightly. He reached one end of the towel up and ran it through his hair, drying it as best he could. 

And now, they sat quietly, watching the others play in the water. Matthew had decided to join, after much coaxing from Francis and Kiku. It had been mostly the both of them splashing Matthew until Matthew came into the water to attack them. Alfred had laughed, but now he liked it calmer and quieter, listening to Ivan’s steady breaths beside him.

Alfred looked over at Ivan, watching as Ivan sipped his water silently. He stared at Ivan’s bathing suit, its purple patterns and circles. He glanced to Ivan’s pale legs, looking up to his flushed face, his glittering eyes. 

It hadn’t occurred to him yet that Ivan’s bathing suit was strange. It hadn’t hit him that it was unusual for Ivan to wear that. But once it did, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He wanted to know why. Why would Ivan wear this? It was strange, but yet not. It was perfectly Ivan, but yet so different. It confused Alfred, and he wanted to know why.

So he asked.

“Why did you wear that?” 

Ivan looked up, capping his water bottle and setting it down. “What do you mean?” Ivan asked, a quiver in his voice telling Alfred that he knew exactly what he was talking about. Alfred responded anyway.

“Your bathing suit. Why’d you wear one like that?” he asked, running a hand through his wet hair. He shivered. It was colder than it had been earlier, though not by much. Alfred glanced to the yellowing sky before returning his gaze to Ivan.

Ivan stared down at the ground, his eyes flicking to the stripes and flowers on his towel, before once more looking up at Alfred.

“You don’t think it’s weird, do you?” Ivan mumbled, eyes big and watery. Alfred wanted to open his mouth to speak, but Ivan’s explanation fell from his lips in a rush of words and phrases jumbled together quickly, struggling to form coherent thoughts to explain to Alfred the reason for his bathing suit. 

“It’s just. Katya and I went to the store last summer to get me a bathing suit. We looked all through the store, and couldn’t find one I liked. All the boy’s ones were boring, bland, just so plain. So we went to the girl’s section. We looked, and we found this, this one. I liked it. So much. It’s just so pretty, with its ruffles and its colors and everything and, and I, I really wanted it. I wanted it so badly, so I asked. Katya said that I could get it if I liked it. She said there was nothing wrong with wearing a bathing suit for girls. If I liked it, it was, it was fine. It wasn’t weird, I could wear it,” he paused then, gasping for breath before continuing once more. “I asked Francis. He, he said it was okay. He said that it wasn’t strange or weird or odd. He said it looked nice. He said that, that it was okay, as long as I liked it. But I don’t know, Alfred. I just, I just don’t know. Is it weird? Is it wrong? I should wear a boy’s bathing suit, right? But I just don’t like those ones. They’re not as fun, not as creative. I like this one, Alfred. Is it wrong. Is it weird?” he finished, staring up at Alfred.

Alfred sat there for a moment, silent. Ivan looked back down, his lip quivering. “I just, I just don’t want you to think I’m weird,” Ivan whispered.

Alfred’s heart nearly stopped. Ivan cared what he thought of him. He cared if Alfred thought he was weird. Maybe he did like him back? Maybe Ivan wanted to be held by Alfred as much as Alfred wanted to hold him. Alfred never thought that Ivan might like him back, always thought that he would have to win Ivan over, but maybe he was wrong? But, maybe he was right. Maybe Ivan just cared too much of what people thought of him. Maybe he worried that being weird would make him lose friends. Alfred froze again, realizing Ivan was probably waiting for a response.

“You’re not weird,” Alfred said. Ivan looked up again, tears brimming. Oh god, was Ivan going to cry? “You’re not weird,” he repeated, his lips curving into a gentle smile as he looked at Ivan. “Katya and Francis were right. It’s fine, it’s not strange. You’re fine. As long as you like it, Ivan, as long as you want to wear it, it’s fine. It’s not weird. You’re not weird.”

Ivan stared into Alfred’s eyes. Alfred stared back, mesmerised by his beauty. He was entranced, a gentle breeze ruffling Ivan’s already messy hair. Ivan’s damp hair and eyes glistened in the sun’s fragile and delicate orange rays, his cheeks colored with dusty pink. His eyes only a little puffy, his cheeks only slightly wet. His hand clutching his towel, tugging it down so his could rest his clenched fists on his pale and smooth legs. The purples of his bathing suit against his skin, and his shaking lips of rosy red.

“Thank you,” Ivan whispered. Another crystal tear dripped down his cheek, disappearing down his face, a wet trail left behind. “Thank you,” Ivan whimpered again, more tears of diamond trailing down his porcelain cheeks. Alfred wished to hug Ivan to his chest and whisper promises of happiness and forever joy, but he felt that this moment was Ivan, something for him alone to conquer and for him to shine through bright and strong in the end. Ivan gave a weak laugh as he wiped at his face, his sparkling violet eyes locked onto Alfred’s blues. His tears slowed, his eyelashes fluttering in the way of a snowflake flurry, a cracking snowball spreading out white cold. They stopped, and Ivan sighed, holding himself close. He gave Alfred a smile, genuine and perfect, soft, wet lips curling up into the most wonderful and desired smile Alfred had ever laid eyes upon.

“Thank you.”

Alfred smiled back, head tilted to the side, sky blue eyes filled with wonder and adoration as he watched Ivan’s every move with impossible intensity. Ivan collected himself, turning back to watch their friends in the water, hands resting in his lap. Alfred turned and watched them as well, his heart beating quickly and his face red. Ivan was perfect, even when crying, his tears of water and wet seeming like crystals and gems in Alfred’s eyes. Alfred smiled to himself, rubbing his eyes and cleaning his glasses. He paused a moment, taking a deep breath and blinking himself back out of his own little bubble where nothing existed except him and his snow beauty.

“You’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope no one minds the strange uploading 2 days in a row  
you probably won't  
anyway  
yeehaw :)  
I wish I was dead  
have a good one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	15. Bruh, I didn't know you had EMOTIONS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dinner, but who cares  
jamas and deep talks about emotions 😞😞😞😞  
Also I feel this chapter is a lil bit shorter but maybe that's just me?? If you feel the same, then sorry

“Jeez, I’m glad you’re back. You took forever!” Alfred’s mom, Ms.Jones, called as the boys walked into the house. Kiku, once more the last in line, slid the door closed behind him, scurrying forward to be near the front to greet Alfred’s mom. 

“Yeah, sorry mom. Guess we were just too preoccupied with swimming to notice the time,” Alfred shrugged, tugging on the collar or his t-shirt. 

“It’s no matter, you’re just in time for dinner,” his mother said, pulling plates from the cabinets above her head. “Why don’t you kids take a seat? It won’t take long, so you can change your clothes once you’ve finished.” 

Alfred nodded, “Sure thing mom.” All of the boys did as told, and sat at the table. Extra chairs had been pulled to the table, as there were usually only four. Ivan took Matthew’s usual seat beside Alfred, Ms.Jones raised an eyebrow as Alfred seemed giddy with excitement to have Ivan beside him. She shrugged it off, and placed plate, now full of food, at each seat before sitting beside Matthew. Francis and Kiku sat at the ends of the table, Francis on Alfred’s side and Kiku on Ivan’s. 

“Dig in, boys,” Ms.Jones grinned, her fork in hand. They began eating quickly, Alfred in the lead. “It’s not a race!” she chuckled, covering her mouth before returning to eating. 

“Um, this is very good, Ms.Jones,” Ivan muttered, quietly lifting another forkful of food to his lips.

“Oh, thank you sweetie! That’s very nice of you,” Ms.Jones replied, a huge grin plastered across her face. Ivan blinked owlishly, blushing and staring back down at his food. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, reaching a hand down to tug on his sweatshirt, which had pushed itself up, revealing the purple of the swimsuit he wore beneath. Alfred watched him intently, studying Ivan’s reactions and tapping his foot as he processed them. Ivan glanced up and met his gaze, his face reddening as he jerked his head towards his food quickly. Alfred figured that Ivan wanted to go as soon as possible, so he got right back to eating. 

Ms.Jones had been watching the whole encounter, and squinted at the boys. She slowed her chewing, glancing around the table to see who else had watched the interaction. Matthew and Francis were giving each other looks, and Kiku smirked, snickering to himself. Alfred ignored his mother’s prying looks and kept eating, glancing to his friends to hopefully encourage them to eat faster with his eyes. 

Alfred’s mother smiled to herself, turning her head back to her food. She glanced up once more for just a brief second, catching a glimpse of Alfred once again staring at Ivan, a sort of admiration and wonder dancing in his wide eyes as he grinned, cheek dusted with pink. Ms.Jones smirked, shooting her food an amused glance as she continued to eat.

00oo00oo00

“Are we going to put our pajamas on now?” Ivan asked quietly as the boys sat around the living room. They’d finished dinner, and Alfred and Matthew’s mother had gone upstairs to her room, so the boys had made their way back to the living room to decide on what was next.

“Why?” asked a rather tired looking Matthew. 

Ivan flushed and looked down, tugging on his sleeves and twisting them around his hands. “Well, I usually put my pajamas on after dinner because I just go back to my room, so I’m kind of used to that. Are we going to do that, or does no one want to?” he mumbled, glancing up with hopeful eyes. Alfred’s heart fluttered, a grin crossing his face as Ivan continued to cast the group hopeful looks.

“Of course we can,” Alfred replied cheerfully, pushing himself up from the couch and placing his hands on his hips. “Come on Matt, let’s go get our jamas. You three’ll go downstairs and get your jamas, and we’ll all come back here and watch a movie or something,” he declared, patting his brother’s head and beginning his short walk to the stairs.

Kiku nodded, taking the lead and heading to the basement door, Ivan skipping up behind him and immediately starting up a conversation with him. Francis paused for a moment, glancing to Alfred and Matthew before following his other two friends. Alfred narrowed his eyes, but ignored Francis and ran up the stairs, Matthew not far behind.

Alfred slowed as neared the top of the stairs, heaving a sigh and trudging over to his and Matthew’s shared room. He quickly threw himself onto his bed, grumbling as Matthew entered and closed the door behind him.

“Get your pajamas on,” Matthew said, rolling his eyes as Alfred responded with a groan. Alfred laid silently on his bed and listened to the sound of rustling clothing. He finally lifted his head when a new weight flopped down on his bed. Pancake sat on his bed, staring at him with a lazy gaze, his wide cat’s eyes searching Alfred before he rested his head on his furred paws. Alfred stared back at the cat and stuck his tongue out at it, frowning as Matthew laughed behind him.

“What’s so funny?” Alfred hissed as he rolled over onto his back to glare at Matthew. 

Matthew shrugged, his gaze amused as Alfred continued to give him sour looks. “You’re so temperamental, and since Pancake was here, it made me think that you’re like a cat,” he shrugged, pulling Alfred’s pajamas out of his closet. He tossed them to Alfred, “Here you go. Put em on, we’ve got guests.”

“I am not a cat. You’re a cat, I’m a dog. Happy, supportive, the best pet,” Alfred shot back, tugging his shirt above his head and throwing it to the ground. “You’re the cat. Cold, distant, disrespectful, absolutely miserable 24/7. A cat perfectly encapsulates you. I’m a dog.”

“Furry,” Matthew snickered. 

“Hey! That is not what I said!” Alfred snarled, shooting up from where he’d sat, startling Pancake. Matthew shrugged and grinned, sitting himself down on his bed and smiling fondly as Pancake scampered up to him. “You’re so mean to me,” Alfred muttered as he pulled on his pajama shirt. “Turn around,” he said boredly. Matthew did as told, scooping Pancake into his arms and facing the wall.

“I just don’t see what’s got you so upset all of a sudden,” Matthew sighed as he petted Pancake. Alfred snorted as he tugged off he slightly damp swim trunks, quickly discarding them and pulling on new underwear.

“How can you not see?” Alfred replied, his tone now annoyed and aggravated. 

Matthew shrugged again, though he knew Alfred wasn’t looking. “I just don’t. Why can’t you tell me?” 

“I mean, I guess I could, but I just feel a little bad about it,” Alfred huffed as he yanked on his pajama pants. 

“I won’t judge you. I’m your twin, you can trust me,” Matthew replied firmly. He smiled down at the cat in his arms, stroking its soft fur as he hummed softly. 

Alfred paused, staring down at himself in thought. “Okay,” he mumbled, “I’ll tell you.” 

Matthew turned around again, dragging his legs along his now thoroughly wrinkled blanket. “See? Was that so hard?” he beamed, hugging his cat close to his chest.

“That wasn’t even the hard part,” Alfred groaned quietly. He walked over to his closet, opening it and kneeling down. Near the bottom of the closet rested a relatively large set of plastic drawers stuffed into wooden shelves. This was where Alfred kept his pants, socks, underwear, and anything else he couldn’t hang up. He pulled open a drawer and took a pair of mostly white socks, the toe and heel a pastel blue. 

“You should probably start talking about this thing that’s upsetting you before we’ve gotta go back downstairs,” Matthew said, watching Alfred go back to his bed. 

“Alright,” Alfred mumbled as he sat down on his bed, the blankets beneath him fluffing up before they settled back down again. Matthew stared as he began putting his socks on, pulling his leg to rest on the bed as he tugged his sock onto his foot. He dropped his leg back down, pausing for a moment before he spoke again. “It’s Francis,” was all he said at first, but slowly, he furrowed his brow and raised his other leg up, his lips parting once again. “He’s been hanging around Ivan so much lately. I get it, they’re friends, but it almost seems like he doesn’t want me near Ivan, and you both said he’d be here to help me win Ivan over. It’s like he’s trying to stay by Ivan’s side all the time so I won’t have a chance to do something nice to Ivan so he’ll favor me even a little. I don’t know why,” he whispered as he finished putting his socks on.

Matthew sat for a moment, eyebrows raised. He looked down at Pancake, patting the cat’s head as he thought. “He has been acting like that, and he did say that, we both did. I remember,” he muttered, bringing a hand up to his face and resting a curled finger by his lip. “That’s strange, I hadn’t really noticed it until you brought it up.” He looked up at Alfred, who’d grabbed his hairbrush and was now running it through his hair to straightening out any knots that’d formed after they’d swam. “Do you want me to talk to him about it?” Matthew asked calmly, his head tilted to the side as he looked to Alfred for an answer.

“I guess,” Alfred shrugged, “if you want to.” He dropped his hairbrush back where it belonged. He turned to Matthew, standing and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants. 

Matthew nodded, “I’ll ask him about it.” He placed Pancake on his bed, sliding off and kneeling down. He grabbed a pair of slippers, putting them on and scooping Pancake back into his arms with zero protests.

“An obedient cat,” Alfred whispered as he watched Matthew leave the room with Pancake held tight in his arms. He glanced around the room one more time before he turned back to the door and marched out after his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so very sorry! I haven't uploaded a chapter since last decade!!! (haha funny joke) but seriously, I feel really bad and I am truly sorry.  
I have a terrible memory, and I've been forgetting to write, as well as forgetting the fact that I'm even writing a story. Plus, I've been watching JoJo lately, so that's been helping my mind to stay away from writing, which is kinda annoying.  
I also had a hard time figuring out where I wanted this chapter to go, but I figured it out  
this won't be going on hiatus or anything, there's no need to worry  
you'll just have to be patient with me, and again, I'm really sorry for the wait!  
but still, I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)  
yeehaw


	16. I'm not making you a PB&J

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> movies n sandwiches babey :)))))  
plus, we get a glimpse of rivalry ooooooh spicy  
the plot thickens :))))))))))))

Alfred stumbled as he reached the bottom of the stairs, making a quiet cry of surprise as he struggled to resume his former balance. Matthew, only a few feet ahead of him, glanced back at him with an amused expression, his eyes sparkling as Alfred stuck his tongue out. He turned to look back ahead, heading for the living room. Alfred sighed and followed, his hands once more stuffed into his pockets.

The two entered the living room, pleasantly surprised to see the rest of their friends waiting for them. Kiku had sat himself in front of the coffee table, a cup of juice beside him and his hands taking from several chip bags. Alfred quietly wondered what had possessed him to grab so many chips. Francis sat on one end of the couch, with Ivan laying across the couch, his legs in Francis’s lap. 

Alfred was immediately put in a bad mood because of this, shooting Francis a quick glare before he huffed and crossed his arms, turning his gaze to his precious Ivan. Ivan looked cute in his pajamas. The top was a purple and fuzzy long sleeved shirt, darker stripes going across the arms and a light purple cat in the center. Alfred liked the cat theme that most of Ivan’s clothes seemed to follow. The bottom, surprisingly, were shorts, the same dark purple as the stripes and just as fuzzy. It made his stomach do flips the way those shorts displayed Ivan’s beautifully pale legs, and he suddenly felt possessive of those legs and desperately wanted Francis to move from the couch. Maybe Alfred could take his place. 

Matthew quickly made his way to the chair and draped himself across it, resting his cat in his lap and patting its head affectionately. Alfred stayed where he was, casting his uncertain gaze to the couch. Ivan met his eyes, the realization that Alfred had nowhere to sit dawning on him. His face scrunched up slightly, his eyes wandering away as he seemed to think. He tapped his chin, avoiding Alfred’s gaze until he came up with a solution. 

“You can still sit on the couch!” Ivan said happily, pushing himself, but still leaving his legs in Francis’s lap. Alfred raised a brow, dropping his arms and stepping forward. Ivan grinned excitedly, apparently satisfied with his idea. He patted the area where his head used to be, “You can just sit here, and I’ll put my head in your lap! I hope you don’t mind, I just think, since we’re gonna watch a movie, it’d be nice and comfortable!”

Alfred just kind of stood there, silent and processing. He quickly got over the new information of the fact that they were in fact going to watch a movie, but soon struggled with other thoughts. Everyone’s eyes were on him, Kiku and Matthew looking amused at his now flustered and struggling to stay stoic state. But Francis has something different in his eyes, not what Alfred would expect from him, but he wasn’t exactly surprised. 

What was swirling in Francis’s eyes was something Alfred had a hard time defining, though he could see hints of a certain emotion, of course with the help of Francis’s expression. A flicker of pain or perhaps regret made its way onto Francis's face, and Alfred used that snippet of information to define the feelings dancing in Francis’s eyes. 

Protectiveness. Alfred found that to be the main emotion. A feeling of protectiveness and a desire to keep Ivan safe. Perhaps to keep Ivan to himself. Alfred of course didn’t blame him, how there weren’t people tripping over themselves to be with Ivan baffled him. Ivan was sweet and seemingly innocent, a precious and adorable creature to be protected. And it seemed that perhaps Francis had made it his job to do just that.

And the regret. That twinge of regret, the uncertainty in Francis’s own stubborn gaze. He must not have been thinking when he agreed to help Alfred win Ivan over. Or maybe he’d been so caught up in his instincts to help with any match making he possibly could that he didn’t consider who he was setting up. And now that he realized what it would cost and he was having second thoughts.

And he’d decided to be the most lovely person and not tell Alfred.

Alfred huffed again, now deciding his actions would be influenced by his need to piss off Francis. Needy little bastard. Clingy little bastard. He’d made his decision. He grinned and nodded.

“Sure thing.”

He could see the distaste in Francis’s eyes, the desperate glances he shot at Ivan. Ivan, of course, wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he was grinning at Alfred, pushing himself further up to give Alfred room to sit. Alfred did just that, flashing Francis a smug grin that Francis pretended not to notice. Maybe Francis knew that Alfred knew of his recent reluctance to let Ivan and Alfred become an item, or even help at all, but it didn’t matter either way.

What mattered was that Alfred was going to win Ivan over, with or without Francis’s help. He still had Matthew, and he remembered his twin saying something about having the support of the student council. Wasn’t Elizaveta in the student council?

He was snapped from his thoughts as Ivan dropped his head into Alfred’s lap. It shocked him for a moment, his mind wondering just how comfortable Ivan was with this. They did just officially become friends only a couple days ago. He quickly ignored those thoughts and focused on Ivan’s head in his lap, his soft hair so close he could almost touch it, if only he had the courage to reach for. He could already smell Ivan, like honey and flowers and something heavenly. It was so perfectly Ivan that it almost made his mouth water. 

He swallowed thickly as Ivan glanced up at him with a grin.

“So,” Ivan drawled, his eyelids fluttering lazily, “what do you think we should watch?” It took Alfred a moment to register that Ivan was talking to him. He’d been too focused on staring into Ivan’s beautiful eyes with their dazzling violet irises to notice any words being spoken. He awkwardly cleared his throat and glanced away, flustered.

“I don’t know. Anything works, really, I don’t mind,” he shrugged, his hands straining as they clenched into fists by his sides. Ivan’s hair just looked so soft. So so soft, he could barely resist his urges to feel it. 

Ivan smiled back, soft and silky and ever so welcoming. “That’s nice! Means we’ve got more options from more genres,” he said sweetly. Alfred nodded his agreement and stayed silent as the rest of the group discussed what movie they should watch. 

Hero waltzed into the room, surprising Alfred who’d been fairly certain he was snuggling with Matthew and Pancake. Alfred eyed the cat as it strutted up to the couch, purring quietly as he rubbed his body against the plush material of their sofa. His fluffy tail swooped up into the air, brushing against Ivan’s dangling hand.

Ivan sat up slightly, leaning off the side of the couch and beaming at the puffy creature. He immediately scooped the cat into his arms. Alfred opened his mouth to object, but to his surprise, the cat stayed silent and content. Huh. That was weird. Usually, Hero would pitch a fit and hiss and claw if you picked him up so suddenly. In fact, Alfred didn’t think he’d ever met a cat that didn’t react like that, but Hero just let it happen and now sat in Ivan’s lap purring happily as Ivan doted on him, petting repeatedly with no signs of stopping and cooing praises.

Alfred stared at the loudly purring cat in Ivan’s lap. He then switched his gaze to a pleased Ivan, then back to the cat. A glance to Francis, to find Francis staring at him. Alfred winked and smirked at him, and Francis tried to hide his displeasure. 

He shrugged and tried to focus more on Matthew and Kiku arguing about the movie they should watch. They were hissing about watching either Babe or Frozen, Matthew supporting Frozen and Kiku desperately trying to convince him to watch Babe. Alfred was indifferent, and Ivan seemed to have the same opinion and was just enjoying their arguing. It was a bit funny.

“Matthew, you’re a very sweet and kind friend and I’m so lucky to know you and your brother, but please, for the love of god, don’t make us watch Frozen,” Kiku begged, hands fisted on the table in front of him. He sent Matthew pleading looks, to which Matthew responded with his own cold and merciless gaze. 

“But I like Frozen,” Matthew hissed. 

Kiku whined and crushed a chip in his hand. “But- but Matthew. Matthew, please. Babe is a classic, the pig is cute, the animals are nice, the movie is interesting. And Frozen is just..” his nose wrinkled up in disgust as he thought about it, “it’s just so... so annoying. Like, like the songs are dumb, everyone knows that! Frozen isn’t good! Please Matthew, please I’m begging you.”

“But I wanna watch it,” Matthew replied stubbornly, crossing his arms. This was one of the few occasions that Matthew frowned. Alfred had no idea he was this passionate about Frozen.

“Why don’t we just watch them both?” Ivan piped up. Both of the boys looked to Ivan, eyebrows raised. Ivan flushed and stared down at Hero. He then quickly recovered, looking back to the two boys. “We could watch one first, maybe take a small break to go to the bathroom or something, then watch the next, this way everyone’s happy,” Ivan suggested quietly as he pet Hero.

“That’ll work,” said Kiku disinterestedly. He clearly wasn’t happy with having to watch Frozen, at least he got to watch Babe. “But we’re watching Babe first.”

“Works for me,” Matthew shrugged, “Frozen always wins in the end.”

00oo00oo00

By the time they’d finished Babe, Ivan was already looking a little sleepy. During the break between the two movies, Ivan scooped Hero into his arms and quickly deposited the cat in Alfred’s lap. He’d then scurried around in search of a blanket, which Alfred had called out directions for him. Once he’d found what he’d been looking for, he rushed back to the couch and laid himself back down, draping his newly acquired blanket over him and placing Hero gingerly in his lap once again.

Alfred thank the gods that he didn’t have to pee, because there was no way he’d be able to move from where he was with Ivan resting so prettily with head in Alfred’s lap. His silky hair falling around his face and brushing his shoulders, and his soft eyes that shone in the dim living room, the light from the TV reflecting off of them and making them sparkle like jewels. 

“Everyone ready?” Matthew asked as Kiku sat down in front of the coffee table again, now bundled up in a blanket of his own. Matthew was buried in pillows, and Francis was using some of Ivan’s blanket.

“Yeah, whatever,” Kiku grumbled, glaring at the screen as the movie started. 

And yet Alfred couldn’t keep his eyes on the movie. Instead, his gaze was locked onto Ivan, examining and studying all of his features closely.

He focused on Ivan’s big eyes as they glued themselves to the screen. Focused on the way they shone and sparkled and glittered. He focused on Ivan’s hair, and his soft, puffy cheeks. Stared at his plump lips as they stretched into smiles over silly jokes from the movie. Stared at his pale skin and his pale hand that drifted up to brush hair from his face every now and then. Watched intently as his pale lashes fluttered and his violet eyes grew sleepy. 

He didn’t pay a lick of attention to the movie.

00oo00oo00

The movie paused.

“Hey, I’m hungry and I want a sandwich. Anyone else want one?” Matthew asked casually. 

Alfred was a little upset with his brother because his sudden stopping of the movie and his loud (but really only slightly louder than the movie had been) voice had scared Ivan out of his sleepy and dreamy state where his eyes were always half closed and a permanent smile spread across his face.

“I’ll have one,” Alfred huffed, always one to accept an offer for food.

“I’d like one too,” Ivan whispered, a small yawn following. 

Matthew raised a brow as he pet the cat in his lap, which he’d woken up. Hero was still asleep in Ivan’s lap. “You sure, buddy? You seem a bit tired, you might not be able to finish it.”

“I’ll just make him a small one,” Alfred offered, and Matthew quickly shut his mouth. Alfred looked down to Ivan with a fond smile, and Ivan gave a lazy grin back. “What would you like on your sandwich?” he purred.

“Um, I’ll have turkey and… What cheeses do you have here?” Ivan mumbled back.

“Provolone and swiss.”

“I’ll have swiss. And mayonnaise.”

Alfred hummed, “Is that all?” 

Ivan nodded in response, smiling softly and humming, trying to meet the same pitch that Alfred’s humming had been. Alfred chuckled quietly and looked up to Matthew, who was currently arguing with Kiku about what sandwich matters.

“Just make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I don’t understand why this is so hard for you,” Kiku frowned.

“I’m not gonna make you a PB&J, Kiku. Now, if you were asking for a ham and cheese sandwich, this would be a different deal. I don’t wanna use three butter knives today Kiku, that’s too many,” Matthew shot back.

“Wha- three?! Why on earth are you using two knives for a PB&J?? Just use one and wipe it off! It’s so much less work! Like, now you don’t have to wash it!” 

Matthew snorted, “What, are you handwashing all your dishes? We’ve got a dishwasher, it’s not a big deal.”

“No, we are not hand washing all the dishes at my house. It’s just such a waste to use two knives with a PB&J! Just use one, like, what????” 

“Shut up, I’m not making you a PB&J.”

“Matthew,” Alfred hissed, waving his hands to hopefully help grab Matthew’s attention. 

Kiku snarled, “It’s not that hard you incompetent fool, just do it.”

“No!” Matthew spat.

“And why not?!” growled Kiku.

“I. Don’t. Want to!” 

“Matthew!” Alfred barked, his hands fisted and shaking with frustration. Matthew and Kiku’s heads whipped around to stare at Alfred, both looking surprised. Maybe they’d forgotten other people where there.

“Yeah?” Matthew asked casually, suddenly forgetting all his anger.

“Toss me a pillow,” Alfred sighed, rubbing at his face tiredly. 

Matthew nodded, “Sure thing.” Kiku hummed passively as Matthew threw Alfred a pillow. Alfred caught it and grumbled to himself as he shifted the pillow to hold it better. He ignored Matthew and Kiku resuming their argument and looked down to Ivan.

“Lift your head up for me,” Alfred whispered to him. Ivan hummed quietly in response, his eyes half lidded. He lifted up his head slightly, and Alfred slid the pillow beneath. 

“Thanks,” Ivan breathed. Alfred smiled down at him and had to resist the urge to press a kiss to the pale boy’s forehead. He twisted to the side and slid himself out from underneath the pillow, springing to his feet and barely casting Kiku and Matthew a glance. 

He slipped into the kitchen, flicking on the light that shone dimly above the kitchen table. He made his way to the fridge, grabbing the sandwich stuff and laying it out on the counter. He got out the bread, the kind you had to cut yourself. Alfred smiled to himself. He always liked this bread better than pre sliced bread, for sandwiches, specifically. He cut the bread, a larger slice for him and a smaller one for Ivan. He laid them on their sides and cut them in half, quickly pulling open a drawer and grabbing a butter knife. He slicked the pieces of bread up with mayo, and then assembled the rest of the sandwich.

He placed them on paper plates and grabbed a paper towel, and then left the kitchen, passing Matthew on his way out. He was still grumbling something about sandwiches and knives, which Alfred ignored. 

Alfred waltzed back into the living room, casting the clearly grumpy Kiku an amused glance. He pointedly ignored Francis, and went over to Ivan, kneeling down beside the couch and nudging his hand. Ivan looked at him with tired eyes and a sleepy smile. 

“Here you go,” Alfred cooed, gently offering the sandwich. Ivan’s smile widened as he blinked slowly and hummed thankfully.

“Thank you,” he purred, gingerly picking up the sandwich and taking a bite. “It’s good,” he whispered, “thank you again.”

Alfred blushed and shrugged, “There’s not too many ways to mess up a sandwich.” Ivan giggled and nodded his agreement. Alfred snickered and grinned, his face redder than before. “Can you lift your head up again?” he asked. Ivan nodded and did as told, and Alfred slipped back underneath the pillow. He removed the pillow and threw it at Matthew’s empty seat.

Matthew reentered the room, holding two sandwiches. Kiku smirked triumphantly. Alfred barely paid them any attention as he lifted his sandwich from his plate, wrapping it in the paper towel so there wouldn’t be any falling crumbs. He’d done this partially because his mom would be mad if they got crumbs everywhere, but mostly because he didn't want to get any on Ivan.

The movie started again, and Alfred’s eyes once more locked onto Ivan.

00oo00oo00

The movie was almost over at this point, and Alfred didn’t really have an opinion. At some point it’d grabbed his attention, and he’d actually started watching it, but he didn’t really know why.

He didn’t hate the movie, but he didn’t exactly like it either. He thought that Anna and Kristoff’s relationship was nice, and the white hair reminded him of Ivan. He thought of when Kristoff had carried Anna, and wondered what it would be like to hold Ivan like that.

He flushed and smiled to himself, wondering how heavy Ivan would feel and if he’d hold onto Alfred tightly out of fear. Would he beg to be put down, or would he love being held? Who knows. Ivan was such a mystery.

Speaking of Ivan, he’d been awful quiet for a while now. 

Alfred glanced down at the boy, not surprised to see him sound asleep. A whisper of a smile crossed his lips again as he looked fondly down at Ivan. He was so cute in his sleep, his already soft features even softer. His pink lips slightly ajar, his breathing steady as his chest rose and fell evenly. 

Alfred’s breath caught in his throat as he realized he’d had a daydream like this at one point, with Ivan sleeping in his lap as he combed his fingers through that pale hair. It looked so unbelievably soft, and Alfred had been thinking about it all night. He bit his lip as he slowly lifted his hands towards Ivan’s head.

He froze in the air, glancing around nervously. The only one left awake was Matthew, and there’s no way he was even looking at Alfred. His eyes were glued on the screen, eating up every second of the movie. Alfred held back a snort and focused on Ivan once again.

His fingers brushed pale hair, smooth, silky smooth pale hair, and Alfred’s heart nearly stopped. He held his breath and slowly moved closer. Soon his hands were fully engulfed by Ivan’s sleek hair, and Alfred was overjoyed.

Ivan’s hair was even softer and smoother and silkier than he could have ever imagined, and he could barely contain himself. He let out a pleased sigh as his fingers glided through Ivan’s hair, humming softly to himself. 

Alfred sat back in his seat, smiling softly. His cheeks warmed and he blinked slowly, his eyes dragging their gaze to the TV before darting back to Ivan’s beautiful resting face. He let out a tired and delirious giggle, more slow blinking following. He practically purred as he slipped into sleep, the last feeling he felt being the feeling of Ivan’s elegant locks sliding through his fingers and caressing his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey ya'll  
I'm back again and still a disappointment  
I'm here to spoil Frozen 2 for you  
olaf dies and Elsa loses her magic  
I dunno why my friend just told me that and neither of us have seen Frozen 2  
I chose Frozen kinda on a whim  
I was talking to my friend and I was like "bruh what movies should they watch" and he was just throwing things at me, but he wasn't being very helpful and at one point he said Charlotte's Web and I was like BAM yes that works, and then he kept saying disney movies and I just picked Frozen and then changed Charlotte's Web to Babe because I've never seen Charlotte's Web  
honestly can't even remember the plot of Babe much tho  
think it's got something to do with the pig trying to herd sheep  
anyway  
yeehaw :)  
plus, gonna try to keep a more steady upload schedule, gonna try to post at least once a week, starting now  
have a nice day :)  
Oh haha I've got pink eye


	17. Those are my glasses I swear to god give them back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uuuh Alfred sleepy memory?  
plus glasses or something

Alfred woke several times throughout the night, some of them lasting mere seconds, consisting of only his eyelids fluttering open because of a noise and falling shut almost immediately, and some stretching over the span of minutes, perhaps even dragging out for an hour. 

He barely remembered the longer ones. There wasn’t much to remember because the only thing he did was stare at Ivan in the darkness and admire everything about him. Sometimes he’d let his hands brush Ivan’s cheeks, he vaguely remembered gently running his thumb over Ivan’s bottom lip before quickly retreating.

He remembered the short ones better. Sometimes he’d catch a glimpse of something interesting, something that would be ingrained in his memory. But, there was one he didn’t know if he dreamed of not. 

This one in particular was more fuzzy than the longer spans of time in which he was awake. And yet somehow he still remembered it so well. It lasted maybe twenty or thirty seconds. Twenty or thirty second of eyelids up and then sliding shut again, but what he thinks he saw is perhaps greater than any other sleepy memory he has.

Alfred’s eyes opened. It was still as dark as it had been, and his vision was hazy. His watery eyes blinked slowly, and looked down at Ivan, only his eyes moving, an almost unnoticeable action in the dim lighting. In his lap, Ivan lay awake, eyes wide and staring up at Alfred. 

His breath caught in his throat as Ivan smiled softly. One pale hand reached up and brushed one of Alfred’s, a quiet hum escaping Ivan’s pink lips as he let his eyes slide shut again, nuzzling Alfred’s palm. 

And then Alfred’s eyes too fell shut, and the memory ends.

Another memory he’s locked deep in his mind to remember and hold close is one of the longer ones, still about as hazy and wobbly as the rest. It lasted ten minutes most likely, it wasn’t like Alfred was keeping track or anything. 

Again, Alfred’s eyes shot open, immediately focusing on Ivan. Ivan stayed still, face pressed slightly closer to Alfred’s hand than it had previously been. Alfred, in his drowsy and tired state, completely ignored this, as at the time he didn’t even remember Ivan pressing close to his hand. 

Maybe nine minutes later, Ivan shifted in his sleep. Alfred of course froze on the spot. Ivan twisted onto his side, then scooted closer to his source of warmth, Alfred. His arms looped up and around one of Alfred’s that went limp the moment Ivan touched it. Ivan practically purred as he pressed his cheek to Alfred’s arm.

And then Alfred fell asleep again.

00oo00oo00

Alfred woke up, for real this time. Dim light from the slowly rising sun peeked through the drawn curtains in the living room. Bits of dust danced and fluttered in the air, illuminated by the light, though still barely able to be seen.

Alfred yawned, bringing one hand up to cover his mouth. The smell of food cooking, specifically pancakes, wafted into the room from the kitchen. Alfred smiled to himself. He knew there was no way his mom was waking up this early on a weekend, which meant that Matthew was cooking them breakfast.

Which, of course, Alfred was grateful for. Alfred didn’t know what he’d do if his mom came downstairs in the morning to find all the boys asleep in her living room, especially Ivan and Alfred. Speaking of Ivan, the boy stirred in Alfred’s lap, his lips parting and his teeth clenching as he let out a whine and writhed in place.

Alfred glanced down at him, an amused grin replacing his former smile. Ivan twisted onto his back, legs and arms unfurling and straining in a stretched before Ivan heaved a sigh and let them go limp. He yawned, a quiet whine escaping him once again.

Alfred blushed as he watched Ivan slowly wake himself up. Everything about this sweet little boy was just so cute, from his pale skin flushing as he stretched and squirmed to his quiet yawns that made his eyes go all watery.

Ivan pulled himself into another stretch, this time arching his back and letting out a louder and even higher pitched whine that slowly made its way into a groan that died out quickly as he flopped back down in Alfred’s lap. Ivan cracked one eye open, looking sleepily up at Alfred before he opened the other.

“Good morning,” Alfred said amusedly. 

“доброе утро,” Ivan whispered back. Alfred raised a brow, but Ivan seemed to have no intention of clarifying what he’d said. Alfred decided to just assume that he’d said good morning and forget about it. He’d rather think about how nice russian sounded, especially with Ivan purring those words sleepily. 

Ivan pushed himself into a sitting position, blinking lazily and glancing around the room, regaining his bearings. It was almost as if he’d forgotten that he was in Alfred’s living room. Ivan hummed and then cracked his knuckles, eyes dragging their gaze to the gentle light spilling into the room.

“What time is it?” Ivan purred as he rubbed at his eyes, glancing back to Alfred once he’d finished. 

Alfred shrugged, “I dunno, I just woke up like 3 minutes ago. But, I don’t think it’s that early, the light isn’t bright and Mattie usually wakes up early.”

“Where’s Matvey then?” Ivan hummed. 

Alfred gestured to the kitchen, wiping his nose and avoiding Ivan’s gaze. “The kitchen. He’s making pancakes,” he replied.

“You can tell from the scent?” Ivan giggled, covering his mouth and smirking at Alfred. Alfred flushed and frowned at him, sticking his nose up and crossing his arms. 

“Hey, he makes them a lot. You learn to recognize the smell,” Alfred defended. 

Ivan dropped his hand and smiled again, letting out a few more giggles as he did so. Alfred smiled back, his cheeks flushed bright bright red as he pulled his eyes away from Ivan’s. He couldn’t help but think about how he ran his fingers through Ivan’s hair and brushed his fingers against Ivan’s smooth skin and how he watched his soft features in the dark.

Ivan slid out of Alfred’s lap and off the couch, bundling the blanket up in his arms and dropped back where it belonged. He turned back to face Alfred, though he paused to stretch his arms up above his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he did so. Alfred stared in awe as his pajama shirt lifted up as he raised his arms, exposing Ivan’s pale belly.

Alfred’s heart was racing and he of course struggled to avert his eyes, but eventually he managed to. Ivan cleared his throat, catching Alfred’s attention again.

“I’m gonna go downstairs and change, I’ll be back,” he yawned, sparing Alfred a lazy wave before he headed for the basement. Alfred nodded mutely in response, his hands clenching the fabric of his pajama pants as he watched Ivan leave.

He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He groaned quietly and let his head hang, running his fingers through his knotted hair and tugging on it. He slouched over on the couch, grumbling to himself about absolutely nothing. He patted his knees and sat up straight.

First things first, he needs to get dressed. He pushed himself up off the couch and marched over to the stairs, quickly climbing them and scampering into his room. He locked the door behind him and slumped against it, heaving a sigh and trudging over to scrap together an outfit and brush his hair.

He ended up putting on the only thing he ever wore, his jeans, a t shirt, and his bomber jacket. His shirt wasn’t even that special, just a plain white shirt with a blue pocket and blue lining the edges of the sleeves and collar. He brushed his hair, and searched around for his glasses before realizing he’d fallen asleep with them on, meaning they’d fallen off or something downstairs on the couch. 

He cursed under his breath as he sprinted out of his room and down the stairs. The possibility that his glasses had been stepped on or someone had rolled onto them was terrifying. He skipped the last step on the stairs, hissing in pain as he landed weird. He almost collapsed on the ground, but he kept going, determined to find out the fate of his glasses.

He limped into the living room, whining as his vision failed him. He stumbled over to the couch, falling to his knees and letting his hands searching blindly in the cushion for his glasses.

Alright, Alfred’s vision wasn’t _that_ bad. In fact, he was only far sighted, so he could see close by just fine. He just liked being dramatic, even if he was under the impression no one was watching.

Suddenly, his hands brushed something metallic, obviously the rims of his glasses. He gasped and stopped pretending to be blind, focusing on his glasses immediately. He grinned and reached for them, internally grimacing on the smudges he’d covered the lenses with in his frantic search. 

A hand reached out and grabbed the glasses, but, surprisingly, it wasn’t Alfred’s. Alfred choked on air in surprise, letting his own hands shoot out quickly to try and pry the glasses from the stranger’s hand. But, of course, it didn't work. And, also, it wasn’t a stranger. It was Francis. 

“Hey! Give those back frenchie!” Alfred barked instinctively. He didn’t really feel bad about instantly going on the attack, Francis _did_ just take his glasses, one of his most valued possessions, mostly because they helped him see.

Francis cocked a brow, an amused and slightly smug smile spreading across his face. “Frenchie?” he purred, “My my, Alfred. How rude, I don’t even know if I can possibly give these back to you now.” Francis waved the glasses around in the air to punctuate his statement. 

“Give them back,” Alfred growled, still on his knees in front of the couch, but this time with his nails digging into the cushion. Why did Francis have to be this way all of the sudden? Alfred got it, they now had their whole Ivan issue, but Alfred needs to _see_! Is that too much to ask?

“I don’t know if I can, I thought I already said that,” Francis purred back, his smug smile becoming even more smug, if Alfred even thought that was possible. Alfred was fuming, desperately holding himself back and trying to control the urge to punch Francis square in the jaw. Maybe he’d look good with a black eye. Or maybe he should aim low, a blow right to the crotch would shut him up real quick.

“Francis, I swear to god, I won’t wait another second. I’ll hit you, I’ll really do it. _Give. Them. Back_,” Alfred hissed, slowly standing up fully, his fists out before him, ready to fight and punch. _Punch Francis right in his stupid perfect nose._

Francis laughed, wiping the glasses clean on his pajama shirt (which he still looked amazing in, as with everything) and sliding them onto his face. “Oh, will you, Alfred? Over a little pair of glasses? _Surely_ it can’t be _that_ big of a deal.”

Oh, but it was. Those were _Alfred’s_ glasses, and Francis was currently manhanding them with his stupid, pretty french hands. Alfred huffed angrily, his fists shook, he pulled one arm back and hissed insults under his breath as he ground his teeth together.

Alfred was just about to punch Francis, when suddenly they were interrupted.

“What are you two doing?” Kiku whined, rubbing at his eyes and frowned at the tense atmosphere that’d formed in the room. 

“What does it look like?” Alfred spat, gesturing with one hand to his arm that was pulled back and ready to strike. Kiku raised a brow, still sleepily wiping at his eyes. The three sat in silence for a moment before Kiku registered what was happening.

“Oh,” Kiku said simply. He stood up with his blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. He began walking to the basement door, pausing to turn back and gesture for Francis to follow. “Give him his glasses back and let’s go get dressed,” he sighed, though it sounded very much like a command. 

Francis shrugged and snickered at Alfred’s frustrated expression, plucking the glasses from his face and thrusting them towards Alfred. Alfred quickly yanked them from Francis’s hands, fumbling with them before he managed to shove them back onto his face. He practically hissed at Francis as the boy left, leaving Alfred alone in the living room to grumble.

“He’s a year older than us, he should be a little bit more mature,” Alfred whispered to himself, though the same thing could be said about him. He crossed his arms over his chest, standing silently in the living room with no real objective as he decided on what to do next.

Ivan emerged from the basement, bright smile painted across his face, accompanied by a dusting of pink on his cheeks that beautifully complimented his full lips. Alfred bit his lip and flushed.

“Ready for breakfast?” Ivan sang, his hands tangled in his scarf. Ivan’s scarf wrapped around the high neck of his red sweater, and sweater that seemed a bit too large, or maybe it was a sweater dress, because it went down to Ivan’s mid thigh. His warm gray pants would go wonderfully with the black boots Ivan had worn here, but right now he was just in some pink and white striped socks.

Alfred wanted to melt because of the way Ivan made him feel, all fuzzy and warm, just like Ivan himself. Ivan and his big sweaters and his cat theme and his black boots and his soft hair. Alfred suddenly realized Ivan had asked a question that he had yet to answer.

“Uh, yeah! Of course! I’m famished, and I’m sure Mattie is done with the pancakes by now,” he replied shakily, clearing his throat once he’d finished speaking. 

Ivan beamed, “Let’s go then!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah! haha kept my promise of uploading every week, kind of, I think :))))  
maybe I'll do an upload every wednesday? wednesday is the middle of the week, seems pretty reasonable, yeah?  
we'll see what happens!  
plus, for the first time in a little while, some russian :)  
доброе утро = good morning (according to google translate)  
if it's wrong then I'm sorry, but I really don't know where else to look for translations, but I figure google translate can't mess up a simple phrase like this one  
the glasses thing is #me, I'd do anything for my glasses, they mean so much to me. I'd cut someone for touching my glasses, that's just how it be sometimes :/  
anyway  
yeehaw :)


	18. Oh my god, dude it's like 7am how are so horny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> uuuh pancaek? hehoo peanut  
uh Alfred is kinda horny I guess hehe  
I say horny like 3 times in this chapter beware OwO  
my guilty pleasure is shota but this isn't supposed to be like ppppporn so uuuuuh it's not but also I have to slip so more *adult* themessss in hereee cuz I want tooooooo  
hehe sorry if you came here for precious little soft boys because this chapter doesn't really have much of that I think  
also this chap is p Mattie oriented which is cool I guess hahahahHAHAHA  
I'm kinda tired mwah mwah

Alfred sauntered into the kitchen, shooting Francis one last sneaky glare, before he greeted his twin.

“Hey Matt! Pancakes?” Alfred beamed. Ivan giggled behind him, shuffling into the kitchen with his own shy smile. Matthew rolled his eyes and smirked, flipping on the of the last few pancakes and patting it down on the pan.

“Obviously,” Matthew replied, “what else do I know how to cook?” Both Alfred and Ivan laughed at that, and Alfred led his pale friend over to a seat at the table. Matthew slipped a few pancakes onto a plate, already piled with more pancakes. He spun around and placed the plate at the center of the table, quickly turning around again to grab the syrup and some extra plates. 

Once he’d handed the two boys their forks and plates, he turned back to finish cooking the last few pancakes. 

“Thank you, Matvey,” Ivan whispered, eyeing the fluffy, golden pancakes hungrily. 

“No problem Ivan, serve yourself,” Matthew laughed, his face flushed from embarrassment. He obviously wasn’t used to getting complimented. Ivan did as told, sliding two pancakes onto his plate as Alfred stood up to grab the butter. When Alfred returned to his seat, Ivan eagerly took the butter from him, licking his lips and he smeared it on his pancakes. He poured syrup on them and began cutting them up.

“Geez Ivan, you must be real hungry, eh?” Alfred snorted. Ivan blushed and looked away, suddenly seeming hesitant to eat. The hand holding his fork froze in place, and his other went almost completely limp to the point where it almost dropped down to his side. 

He dragged his eyes over to his food and bit his lip. “Maybe I shouldn’t eat so much,” Ivan muttered, barely audible. Alfred cursed himself for being such an idiot. He thought back to a few days ago, right before he and Ivan he became friends, and thought about the small fight they’d had. He wondered if what Matthew had said about Ivan also being sensitive about his weight might be true.

Alfred didn’t think it made much sense, in his opinion, Ivan’s body was perfect the way it was. He thought that Ivan’s soft and pudgy body was just absolutely precious, and it made him also appear curvy, a wonderful thing to behold. Ivan’s soft arms and his plush thighs and his chubby middle. Alfred thought Ivan looked just divine in every way.

So why on earth would he be so hesitant to eat?

“Nah, if you’re hungry, eat up! As I said earlier, I’m famished!” Alfred replied brightly, scooping four pancakes onto his plate. Ivan’s eyes grew wide as Alfred quickly prepared his pancakes, and took one huge bite, flashing Ivan a wide smile. Ivan flushed and giggled, covering his mouth with his scarf and reaching a hand out to Alfred’s cheek, brushing his fingers against it.

“You had food on your cheek, you should try to eat a little more like someone who isn’t homeless,” Ivan whispered between laughs. Alfred’s smile widened, and his cheeks were stained a rosy red. _Oh_, he thought, _Ivan truly is just divine_.

00oo00oo00

Matthew hummed as he rinsed his plate off in the sink, Alfred’s loud laughter ringing from the living room. He could hear Ivan gasping for breath between giggles, and Kiku’s much more calm and reserved laughter buzzing along with it. Francis was still frowning at his pancakes and picking at them, radiating frustration from where he sat at the table.

“Is something wrong with the pancakes? Or are you just not very hungry?” Matthew asked as he turned around to face Francis, carelessly wiping his wet hands on his sweatshirt.

“I guess I’m just not very hungry. Something wiped my appetite away,” Francis huffed. He stood and walked stiffly over to the trash can, scooping the remnants of his mutilated pancake into it. He sighed and frowned again as he slid over to the sink and rinsed his plate clean, setting it down at the bottom atop several other plates.

“Is there something in particular that wiped it away?” Matthew prodded, his lips pressing into a firm line once he’d finished. He wondered how much snooping he could get away with before Francis snapped at him. 

It wasn’t that Francis was especially irritable, especially with someone like Matthew. It was just that sometimes he’d prefer to keep his things a little more quiet and secret, and how irritated Francis was acting about this something really wasn’t going to help Matthew’s chances of getting out of the kitchen without Francis yelling at him.

“Yeah,” Francis sighed disdainfully, “Someone’s been ruining my mood lately.”

Matthew hummed, “Care to tell who?” He already knew who though, he just wanted confirmation. Plus, he could pass this information on to Alfred, and Alfred could use it somehow. Probably.

Or maybe Matthew just loved gossip.

“Not really. You might get upset with me, and I don’t want a precious kid like you mad at me,” Francis mumbled. He walked over and patted Matthew’s head, and Matthew giggled, pushing his round glasses up his nose and flashing Francis a bright smile.

“That’s fine, you can always tell me another time. If you feel like it, that is,” Matthew replied.

Francis gave a weak smile as he left the kitchen. Matthew kept his grin up until Francis left, letting it drop the moment he left. He sighed loudly and slumped against the counter. 

He did not get enough sleep last night to try and help resolve Alfred’s problems.

00oo00oo00

Alfred’s mood immediately dropped from absolute bliss to_ I’m gonna lose my shit if this frenchie says even a word to me _the second Francis entered the living room. Ivan grinned up at Francis from where he sat beside Kiku on the ground in front of the coffee table, dangerously close to Alfred and his legs, set wide apart (Alfred, dude, stop being horny).

“Francis!” Ivan beamed, sitting up straighter. Francis nodded in response, his stiff and tired smile softening at the sight of the precious and pale creature that was Ivan. Kiku returned the nod in greeting, and Alfred merely frowned at him. Francis’s blue eyes flickered to Alfred’s expression, eyes darkening and then returning to Ivan.

Alfred had the strange urge to bark at Francis. Or, I guess just yell at him, but Alfred interpreted it as a bark. He sat forward on the couch, elbows on his knees, so very close to Ivan that he could just smell his sweet scent and his breath caught in his throat. Hazy memories from last night flooded his mind and his face burned as he thought of Ivan pressing his face and his lips and his soft cheek to Alfred’s palm. 

Francis walked over and plopped down on the chair where Matthew had slept, frustration radiating from every fiber of his being. Alfred smirked at him and snickered. He’d clearly won this battle. This very tense battle of who got to sit close to Ivan. Francis was clearly a loser and would always be one. _Obviously_.

“Did you like the pancakes?” Ivan chirped, “I thought they were just divine!” _Just like you_, Alfred thought, a rush of red flooding his cheeks. 

“They were very tasty, I think Matthew did a wonderful job,” Kiku agreed politely. 

“Well, obviously. Matthew makes the best pancakes. Really, he’s good at baking anything. Natural talent I guess,” Alfred added.

“Aw, thanks guys!” Matthew chuckled as he entered the living room, one hand rubbing his neck and the other twirling hair around his finger. A proud grin spread across his face as he cheeks flushed. Guess Matthew _really_ isn’t used to praise, or even being noticed at all.

“Of course, talent is talent, and should always be recognized,” Ivan replied cheerfully, his usually pale cheeks rosy red. Alfred found he rather liked the sight of Ivan with such a pure and happy expression. Flushed cheeks and plump lips and gorgeous pale eyelashes fluttering beautifully against his red cheeks. Alfred could just eat him up.

Subconsciously, Alfred licked his lips, staring intently at Ivan, ravishing him with his eyes. Francis noticed almost immediately and frowned. Ivan was too busy flooding Matthew with compliments about his cooking to notice, and Matthew was too busy receiving them. Kiku noticed though. 

He pursed his lips and did his best to radiate disapproval, but he failed miserably. He wasn’t very good at expressing his emotions, especially bad ones, or perhaps sour ones. Such as disapproval or anger. 

Alfred continued undressing Ivan with his eyes, and Francis continued his glaring and fuming. Kiku tried sighing loudly, but that also didn’t work. He was just too quiet. Way too quiet. Almost all the time. Scratch that, literally all the time every time, at any given moment he was probably either silent or talking quietly. 

Kiku cleared his throat, staring at Matthew and hoping desperately to gain his attention. Matthew was of course more observant than anyone else in the room besides Kiku, but most of the time he was fairly more observant than even Kiku, and he noticed Kiku quickly. He still managed to keep up his conversation with Ivan though.

Kiku motioned with his eyes first to Alfred, then to Francis, though it wasn’t like he’d needed to motion to Francis. The second you look at Alfred, you’d wanna check on Francis to see his reaction to make sure nothing got out of hand.

Matthew’s eyes landed on Alfred, and his expression morphed into one of confusion, then horrifying realization, then, finally, disgust. Matthew was much better at radiating displeasure than Kiku. 

Almost as good as Ivan, the king of radiating every single one of his foul emotions. Kiku had a long way to go to catch up to these kings of bad vibes. Matthew cleared his throat, his nose wrinkling up as Alfred glanced to him with a panicked expression. 

“I think we should go do something, maybe we could play a game downstairs?” Matthew suggested, his light tone incredibly forced, but still very convincing. Both Francis and Ivan bought it.

“That sounds great! Come on, let’s go” Ivan giggled, leaping up and scrambling over to the basement. Francis laughed, standing to follow him. Kiku stood hesitantly, glancing back at the brothers before scurrying after his friends. 

Matthew frowned and looked back to his flustered twin. 

“Alfred, could you be a little more discreet when you’re eyeing Ivan like that? Because, I don’t know if you noticed, but it was really pissing Francis off,” he sighed. 

Alfred turned beet red, his hands fisted and squeezed between his legs. “Yeah, maybe,” he squeaked out. Matthew stared at his brother for a moment, his expression cool and calculating before once more twisting into disgust.

“You might wanna go to the bathroom and get that taken care of,” he hissed, faking a gag as he pointed in the general area of Alfred’s crotch. 

Alfred made a noise that sounded like his soul leaving his body through his mouth and nose (maybe his eyes, I mean, they are watering), which it probably did. Matthew barely even snorted before Alfred screeched and threw a pillow at him. Matthew ducked and fell to the ground, and by the time he was up, the bathroom door was already slamming shut.

Matthew groaned and patted his cheeks, scowling and stalking off to the basement. He did not want to address the situation he’d just been in. He also knew that Alfred had the same attitude about it, obviously. So, at least now he was in the clear.

_Oh god_, Matthew thought, _why is Alfred so horny?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mat is cool haha  
alfred is horny aha  
I'm kinda tired and I put a lot of stuff that I feel like I'd usually put in the notes in the summary so I don't know what to put here but I'm not changing it because I don't care enough and I feel like it fits in the summary ahahhahahahahahah  
yall I'm reading part six of jojo now and every day I grow closer to writing some dumbass jotakak fic  
alright whatever  
love yall mwah mwah  
yeehaw


	19. Nut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matthew is a gamer  
Kiku is a GAMER  
hehe nut

Alfred marched down the basement stairs with an annoyed huff, his fists clenched and his face red. He could hear Ivan’s distinct laughter as Matthew and Francis argued over something in the game they were playing. Alfred smiled to himself, slowing as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He looked down at his hands, flushing an even brighter red as he decided to pretend his and Matthew’s earlier conversation didn’t happen.

“Hey Alfie!” called Matthew cheerfully as Alfred shuffled into the basement. He gripped a controller tight in his hand, and the other waved lazily to Alfred. Alfred blushed again, avoiding Matthew gaze as he waved shyly back. He felt Matthew’s eyes boring into him, staring straight into his soul. The soul of a sinner. Yes, Alfred just admitted to being a sinner, a poor, young, and fairly horny sinner boy. And it was at this exact moment that he lost pretty much all his resolve to play it cool.

“What took you so long?” Francis drawled, his voice thick with painfully fake nonchalance. Alfred’s face was aflame as he glanced up, accidentally meeting Ivan’s gaze instead of his intended target, Francis. 

Ivan’s wide, beautiful and pure violet eyes stared up at Alfred’s blues, and all Alfred could think of was Matthew and his stupid comments and running to the bathroom and all those other not so appropriate thoughts that flooded his head at the very sight of Ivan. At least for now. Alfred hoped that would change soon.

Alfred remembered there’d been a question asked.

“I had to poop,” he blurted. 

Ivan covered his mouth with both hands as he giggled, and all Alfred could think was just how cute he was. His pretty hands, pale fingers, his chubby cheeks stained red as he laughed. His beautiful and full lips that Alfred found himself disappointed that he couldn’t see. It was a shame Ivan was as shy as he was. If not, then maybe Alfred could see more of him.

Oh, Alfred could dream.

“A bold statement,” hummed Matthew disinterestedly, turning back to his game. A fighting game, though Alfred had to admit that he wasn’t exactly an expert on those. He played video games all the time, sure, but just not those types. He hated to admit it, but he used to _love_ fortnite. Too bad it was a dead game now.

“Yep. Very bold. But true,” Alfred replied hurriedly with an eager nod.

“Oh?” purred Matthew, an eyebrow raised.

“Oh,” Alfred agreed with another, much calmer nod.

Matthew looked back to the game, nudging Francis, who sat to his side. Francis stopped glaring daggers at Alfred and turned back to the TV, the two boys starting up another round.

“I’ll beat you this time,” Francis declared with confidence that he quite obviously didn’t actually feel. Matthew simply hummed in response.

Ivan sat on the floor next to Kiku, both leaning up against the black coffee table, despite the fact that there were two very warm and plush chairs nestled on either side of the couch. _Strange_, Alfred thought to himself, quietly shuffling towards the chair nearest Ivan.

“Why’re you two sitting on the floor? There’s chairs available,” Alfred asked. Ivan looked up at him, seeming slightly startled, or maybe just a calm surprise. Alfred flushed, feeling strange to have Ivan’s eyes on him again. He looked away, focusing on his task of getting to his chair and listening closely for an answer to his question. 

“Well, I guess it’s just comfortable,” Ivan said after a moment of thought, his eyes gluing themselves back to the screen, allowing Alfred to heave a sigh of relief. Ivan continued as Alfred tip toed behind the couch, as not to disturb the new round, “I saw Kiku coming over to sit on the ground, to save a seat for you, and I thought I’d try it too. It’s pretty fun. Or, enjoyable, I guess. I just like it.”

Alfred nodded, though he was almost 100% certain that Ivan didn’t see it. He’d finally made his way to the chair, settling into the soft cushions with a huff. His face was still as red as it had been for the past few days. He was always flushed nowadays. He tried to distract himself with the heated comments exchanged quickly between Matthew and Francis and the very close match that the two were currently fighting.

“I’m going to kick your ass,” Matthew hissed. He leaned closer and closer to the TV, one foot tapping quickly serving as very little distraction for Alfred. He chose to then move his attention to a certain Frenchman who’d been causing him trouble for about two days. Probably more, if Alfred thought about it. But he didn’t feel like it now, in fact, that was the opposite of what he wanted. He wanted distractions quick, or else he didn’t know if he’d be able to control himself. 

He still felt like his hands were dirty, and found himself wiping them on his jeans over and over again. 

“You have poor technique,” Kiku commented as Matthew delivered the final blow. It wasn't exactly clarified as to who he was talking to. Matthew whooped in triumph, his hand thrown in the air, controller still clutched tight in his hand. Francis groaned, dropping the controller onto the cushion beside him and putting his head in his hands.

“Who’s next?” Matthew grinned, the adrenaline from the first win fueling him for the next. Kiku raised his hand silently, his expression as blank as ever. Matthew barked a laugh, snatching up the other controller and thrusting it into Kiku’s hands. “Get ready, fool,” Matthew smirked. Kiku merely pressed his lips together in response.

Matthew had no idea that his fate was already sealed.

In almost two minutes Kiku defeated Matthew, his health with barely a scratch taken out of it. Matthew sat still, dumbfounded, his jaw clenched tight and his eyes narrowed. He sat back in his seat with a huff, arms crossed over his chest. Kiku offered a small, sympathetic smile, and Matthew couldn't help but chuckle and return the gesture.

“Guess you got a little too confident,” Ivan giggled. Alfred laughed too, surprised to see Ivan turned to look at him. Something sparked inside Alfred when Ivan grinned at him, his violet eyes glued to Alfred only. He liked having Ivan’s undivided attention. Something felt good about knowing that the only one Ivan saw at this moment was Alfred. He felt strangely possessive, but not too much that it might become a problem.

Ivan looked back to Kiku and Matthew as they started chatting, probably something about the game, but Alfred wasn’t listening. Somewhere around the middle of when he and Ivan stared at each other, Alfred had felt another pair of eyes glued to him, though it certainly didn’t bring the same kind of satisfaction that Ivan’s eyes brought.

He glanced to the source, cheeks once more painted red, making eye contact with a disgruntled Francis. Alfred grimaced, avoiding Francis’s gaze and deciding it a better decision to contribute to the conversation. _Geez_, he thought, _his personality really did a 180_. And, of course, Alfred was right.

Francis had gone from happy, polite, even eager to help Alfred solve any of his love life related issues, to this unhappy, brewing stew, including ingredients such as; jealousy, possessiveness, protectiveness, general anger and displeasure. Alfred was, frankly, not a big fan of this version of Francis. Probably because all of these sour emotions were directed at Alfred and solely Alfred.

He struggled to ignore Francis’s hard glares and prying eyes. He obviously knew that Alfred hadn’t been pooping, and he definitely wanted to know what he’d been doing. Not like he was ever going to let that slip, but still, Francis was making him anxious. 

00oo00oo00

Matthew had let it slip.

The realization hit Alfred like a train, like a _really_ heavy train, coming crashing into Alfred, crushing his bones and his body and his poor little sinner soul. Matthew had let it slip about what Alfred had done in the bathroom. _Matthew_, his own damn _brother_, had let it slip that Alfred had fucking touched himself of Ivan not even a full hour ago.

And it left Alfred shaking, with one single question bouncing around his blank mind: “How the _fuck_ did this happen?”

“Well, you see, uh. I don’t know what to say. It was all so sudden!” Matthew wailed, his shaking hands covering his red face, though his redness couldn’t even hope to be compared to Alfred's, literally the color of straight blood. Or roses, if you want to be all soft about it. 

“I don’t care if you don’t know what to say, you better fucking try of I’m going to break your nose. I’ve done it before,” Alfred hissed. He didn’t normally result to violence (a lie), but he felt like this situation was serious enough to warrant a threat to Matthew’s pretty little nose. 

“Okay, okay!” Matthew wheezed, his expression panicked. “So Francis and I went up to get snacks, yeah? Well, we got to the kitchen, I go over to the fridge, grab a couple gogurts, close the fridge, turn around, and he’s there! He even put his arm above me like in a goddamn anime, but know it wasn’t that kind of pin thing, cuz I think he’s got a crush on Arthur, but that’s not the point! So basically, he asks me what you did in the bathroom. I don’t know why he thought I knew, but he did! And he was right! And he just kept asking and eventually I was just so panicked and freaked out that it just kinda spilled out and I’m so sorry I told him what should we do!” Matthew heaved and gulped greedily for air, his hands now clutching the fabric of his hoodie, the same one he wore everyday. 

Alfred stayed silent, once more pausing to let Matthew’s words sink in. His whole world seemed to slow, and a new thought crossed his mind: _what if he tells Ivan?_

“I hate you.”  
“I’m sorry!” Matthew cried, throwing his limp, noodle arms at Alfred and hugging him. Alfred patted his back weakly in response, slowly exiting his previous stage of complete shock and now entering a sort of aftershock, still horrified and with almost no clue of how to move on from here, but not so shocked that he can hardly find it in himself to move.

Matthew pulled away, a look on his face that made it seem like he was on the verge of tears, but Alfred had seen the expression more time than he could count and knew that, sadly, Matthew would not be crying over the crime he just committed.

“I think,” Alfred whispered, eyes staring holes into the ground, “I think we should ask Kiku for help.” Matthew looked slightly repulsed. Not that he didn’t like Kiku, but Kiku was the kind of person who would take enjoyment out of this situation, and find fun in it instead of pouring with sympathy. 

Turns out they were right.

00oo0oo00

“Oh, this could be like a manga,” Kiku said, his eyes wandering to the side as Alfred and Matthew cringed. “It’s a fairly decent plot, though, me personally, I think it could use some changes.”

They found themselves back in the basement, Ivan in the bathroom, and Francis upstairs gathering more capri suns. Kiku occasionally sipped his own as the twin before him desperately tried to convince him to join their side. 

“Please, no more,” Matthew whispered.

Kiku didn’t hear him. “I think it’s pretty obvious that this would be a yaoi manga. I think I’d probably make the characters, but maybe I’d keep it. I’m sort of interested in shota—”

“Stop,” Alfred interjected, hands fisted at his sides. “Please just help us. Currently, you’re the one on the most neutral of terms with Francis.” 

Kiku pouted slightly, clearly upset with being interrupted, though he quickly shook it off to ponder Alfred’s question. “I don’t know if I’m exactly neutral. I’d say I’m on fairly good terms with him, not just simply neutral. I take offence,” he said rather curtly.

“Right, sorry. You’re on fairly good terms. I would ask Ivan to help if I could, but we all know why I can’t,” sighed Alfred dejectedly. “I’d like his help. He’s so sweet.”

“Yeah, okay, stop talking,” Kiku replied. Matthew snorted despite the gravity of the situation. “I’ll help you, obviously. We’re best friends, there’s rarely a situation in which I wouldn’t help you. I’m not going to be all manipulative either, there’s no conditions. I just want the experience.” 

“Oh my god thank you so much you have no idea how much this means to me,” Alfred gushed, heaving a sigh of relief and letting previously collecting tension leave his body.

“Oh, I do,” Kiku sighed disinterestedly, turning away and stuffing the straw of his capri sun into his mouth and taking his controller back into his hand. They were playing Minecraft now.

Matthew heaved a sigh, dropping onto the couch beside Kiku, who’d taken his earlier spot. Francis would probably have to sit in one of the chairs. Alfred groaned as he flopped down into his chair, leaning forward for a brief moment to grab his half full capri sun. He drank from it loudly as he lazily watched Kiku play his game. 

He didn’t think he’d ever been so stressed about anything in his whole life. His crush on Ivan was bringing him all kinds of new experiences, wasn’t it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fugkbosaid gamer kakyoin  
uh  
my boys are gamers, what can I say? it's just the truth  
that's just how it be sometimes with them gamer boys  
Alfred nuttedteted for his little russian lady (briefly mentioned)  
sjdbkwurg no I am not going to recommend jojo to you because my favorite character has died in literally every part and I don't want you to suffer like I have  
just stick with hetalia, this shit fucking rocks 😎  
also, I was thinking that the official upload day should be wednesday, but I also have jazz band everyday this week and next so I was lazy and didn't write, though that doesn't mean I'm not gonna upload any chapters next week, it's just me struggling to come up with an excuse   
here's a music recommendation: listen to saint bernard by lincoln, it's a great song, though a little short :)  
anyway  
yeehaw


	20. When u hold hands and it's like 0///0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> fgsjsn I don't know  
hold hand

Francis reentered the basement, his expression cold and calculating. Ivan greeted him warmly, hopping up from the couch and skipping over to him, hands clasped together and a bright smile plastered across his face.

“Francis! You’re back! Do you have my capri sun?” he asked cheerfully. Francis offered a curt nod and a tight smile, stiffly handing Ivan his juice. Ivan chirped his thanks, holding the juice close to his face and sipping it. Alfred briefly thought again about how cute Ivan was, but was dragged from his thoughts as he felt Francis’s piercing, cold gaze on him. 

Ivan somehow hadn’t noticed the tension in the room, thick like butter, like really really cold butter. It would probably take a while even with a hot knife. Or maybe not. Hot knives seemed really good at cutting stuff. But Alfred wouldn’t know. It’s not like he accidentally melted a knife one time. No siree.

“What now?” asked Kiku, his tone somehow so very very normal. Alfred guessed it was because he always talked with little or no emotion, so he didn’t have to strain to hide any discomfort. Like Alfred did. Or Matthew. Perhaps even Francis. He had yet to speak, so there was nothing proving Alfred’s small suspicions wrong. 

“I don’t know,” sighed Ivan. He had flopped down on the couch, near to Alfred’s chair, and kept squeezing his capri sun over and over. Alfred thought it should be empty at this point, but he dismissed the thought he had more important matters to attend to. 

“Guess we should get thinking,” Matthew said, his carefree tone so very not carefree, and so very strained. He was doing his best. Alfred appreciated it, even if it was so clearly forced.

And so, they began thinking, their brief silence interrupted every now and then by a particularly loud slurp of his juice from Ivan. 

“We could just watch TV,” Matthew suggested quietly. “We could do that upstairs, or downstairs, depending on what we watch, or everyone’s preference.”

Alfred hummed in agreement, still feeling too awkward and embarrassed to talk in front of Francis. Francis narrowed his eyes to slits are he stared intently at Alfred, but seemed otherwise okay. He nodded his head, flashing both Matthew and Ivan a smile. Ivan returned the gesture tenfold.

Kiku, who sat still on the ground where he had previously (moving for Ivan because, a quote directly from Kiku, “he baby”), held his arms around his knees and looked at the ground in though. “But what should we watch?” he muttered under his breath.

“We could discuss this over lunch? Maybe, everyone can pick an episode of a show they like, and then, once we’ve finished them all, we can decide together on one to continue watching?” Matthew offered.

Everyone sat silent for a moment, contemplating the offer, though Kiku already seemed sold on the idea. He waited probably about thirty seconds before bursting out with, “Can it be anime?”

“Sure,” said Matthew with a shrug. 

Kiku looked ecstatic, in his own Kiku way, his smile relatively small compared to other joyful miles of everyone else in the room, but it still displayed great happiness. Alfred gave a tight smile, still struggling to get used to the feeling of Francis’s eyes boring into him. 

He knew he’d have to. He had a feeling that this whole tense, awkward situation was going to last quite a while between the two of them. That, for some reason, he was certain.

00oo00oo00

Alfred whispered about nothing that showed even the smallest amount of importance under his breath as he once again made sandwiches for him and Ivan, the same way they’d been last night. Now that he was fully awake, he found Ivan’s rather plain, but it also just seemed like the kind of sandwich Ivan would like. He wasn’t really complaining. Honestly, why would he?

Matthew was giving him looks from where he stood beside him, arms folded across his chest as he leaned against the fridge. Alfred ignored them, practicing his skills at pretending someone wasn’t staring at him. Matthew didn’t seem aware that Alfred was trying, because it was very apparent that Alfred was so very aware of Matthew’s staring. He kept glancing at Matthew and quickly averting his eyes immediately after. Plus, he kept fidgeting and his expression, for some reason, seemed so very panicked. 

Matthew let out a loud sigh and turned to rest his elbow on the counter.

“Hurry up, I’ve got three sandwiches to make,” he huffed. Alfred glanced up at him, this time finding himself with no need to make it sneaky. He stuck his tongue out and focused back on finishing up his sandwich (he made Ivan’s first, deciding Ivan to be his top priority at all times).

Once he’d finished, he scooped them from the paper towel he’d made them on, onto their own paper plates, and he promptly left the kitchen. He briefly noted Matthew’s rushed goodbye and his hurried request for the boys, as he so called them, to let the TV stay paused until he returned.

Alfred was of course going to relay this information to “the boys,” but it wasn’t like he had to reassure Matthew. He would find out once he got back to the living room. 

“I’m back. Mattie wants you to keep the TV paused,” Alfred said passively, handing Ivan his sandwich. 

Besides, even if he didn’t tell them, they probably wouldn’t have unpaused it anyway. His friends were nice like that.

“Well, obviously. I’m not a monster,” Kiku scoffed. _Exactly_. 

Ivan’s eyes sparkled as he curled in on himself, his paper plate resting on his knees. He held it with one hand, his sandwich in the other. He began munching on his food, chirping a muffled, but still very grateful thanks. Alfred nodded, smiling kindly at Ivan’s beautiful violet eyes. 

He sat down beside Ivan, though he actually sat with his feet on the ground and his plate in his lap, like you think someone might do. He thought it cute the way Ivan curled up and hugged himself, a precious little bean, one might say. Kiku was right this time. Ivan truly is baby.

“I must say, again, you make a good sandwich,” Ivan said. 

“And I must say, again, that it’s not really me. It’s truly a difficult task to mess up a sandwich,” Alfred replied as he bit into his sandwich.

“The fact still remains that you can make a good sandwich, and you made one for me. Thank you again,” Ivan grinned, his bright eyes boring into Alfred, though in a different way than Francis. Ivan’s gaze was sweet and kind, and so very happy. Alfred could drown in Ivan’s beautiful eyes and the smooth, pale color of his skin. Like yogurt. Like smooth, rich, creamy yogurt. Vanilla, obviously. He wanted to say greek, but he felt it wasn’t exactly appropriate. Ivan wasn’t greek, now, was he?

Ivan looked away to take another large bite of his sandwich, and Alfred found himself transfixed at the sight of Ivan’s mouth open wide, pretty pink lips still so very plump, dropping down around bread and pressing down as he tore off a bite of the sandwich.

Alfred looked away, flushed. He felt Francis’s eyes on him. It seemed he’d gotten used to the feeling, and could just automatically tell who it was. He frowned to himself, focusing instead on his sandwich and ignoring how obvious his staring and his red face must’ve been.

He heard Ivan’s chipper voice strike up a conversation with Kiku. Guess Francis wasn’t feeling very conversational today. To be honest, Alfred wasn’t either. Except for maybe Ivan. He would talk for hours with Ivan, no matter the circumstance. Ivan’s voice was so soft, so very smooth. Listening to it felt like drifting away on a cloud, a cold hand gripped tightly in warm fingers. Were Ivan's hands cold? Alfred felt like they should be. 

He glanced over to Ivan, who, at some point during his conversation with Kiku, had shifted positions. He now sat with one leg on the ground like Alfred, the other up on the couch, his head resting on his knee. His plate sat on the side with the leg that lay flat against the couch, facing away from Alfred. The arm closest to Alfred lay limp on the couch, his other hands holding his sandwich to his face as he giggled at something Kiku had said. 

Alfred dragged his gaze from Ivan pretty eyes and his pretty face and his pretty hair down to his pale hand, his fingers just ever so slightly chubby, just so soft looking with skin that must be smoother than even silk. Of course it had to be smoother. Ivan was the most perfect thing Alfred had ever laid eyes upon.

He glanced quickly away as this train of thought rushed upon him. He didn’t know how he felt about being head over heels for a boy at age thirteen, so he tried not to think about it.

Then, a stray, wandering, and _very_ intrusive train of thought pulled into the station.

_Are his hands really cold?_

_Are they really as soft as you want them to be?_

_Would he like holding hands? Or would he like a hug better?_

_Has he ever really held hands before? _

_How would he react if you grabbed his hand, right here, right now?_

_Do you think he’d like it?_

_Would he make you let go?_

_Maybe you should try it._

Alfred thought that, maybe, just maybe, he shouldn’t. But, Alfred’s impulse control was about 5% him and 95% every other person around him. Usually Matthew. But Matthew wasn’t here right now, was he? There isn’t really anyone stopping him. There really aren’t too many consequences, except for maybe Ivan getting weirded out and hating him, but he seemed desperate for someone loud and popular and fun to be his friend. Someone like Alfred. Ivan has only had friends for about two years of his life, Alfred seriously doubted he knew exactly how they acted. He probably wouldn’t know exactly what holding hands would mean. 

Alfred was riding on this fact, this _assumed_ fact (not exactly a fact if it isn’t proven, so more like a _theory_). Alfred’s poorly informed theory was not very good information to base his reckless actions off of, but it’s not like he has even a little bit of common sense in his brain at any given moment.

So, incredibly impulsively, he reached his hands over for Ivan’s, and grabbed it. 

He was pretty lucky that Ivan hadn’t been talking at the time he grabbed Ivan’s hand, because if he had been, he most certainly would’ve stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked over. But, since he hadn’t been talking, he just looked over with raised eyebrows. 

Alfred kept his face pretty blank, but he could do nothing to control the steadily rising blush. Ivan stared at him, then down at his hand held tightly in Alfred’s, then back up to Alfred. They stayed silent for a moment (Kiku droning on about some anime he liked as their background noise (you bet your ass it’s jojo)), Ivan staring and Alfred and Alfred struggling to maintain eye contact

Suddenly, Ivan broke out into a smile and leaned closer to Alfred. 

“Best friends?” he whispered, his eyes sparkling with something different. A small part of Alfred wondered if maybe he felt the same way Alfred did, but he was just misunderstanding these feelings as a great desire for friendship. It didn’t really matter though. He felt he should be focusing on the situation he found himself in now instead of pondering a hypothetical situation in which Ivan loved him.

Alfred nodded his response, his own broad smile plastered across his face. Ivan beamed, lacing his fingers with Alfred and practically vibrating with excitement where he sat. He giggled and tuned back into his conversation with Kiku.

Alfred sat still, staring at their intertwined hands with a now soft smile. He studied Ivan’s fingers laced with his, pale skin, white as a sheet, against skin so very tan, calloused fingers brushing gently against the plushness of Ivan’s. Alfred couldn’t help the shiver of excitement that ran through his body. He knew that Ivan’s hands were as soft and smooth as he thought they’d be, and while his hands were cold, they were nowhere near as cold as he thought they’d be. His expectations had been wildly unreasonable. 

He was finally getting somewhere, all by himself.

(He ignored the looks pleased looks Matthew and Kiku shot his way.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall, I legit forgot how fucking old I made Alfred  
I had no fucking clue, but then I thought about it, and I think 13 is probably reasonable??? he's in 7th grade, so it makes sense, so I'm going with it from now on  
I don't even know if his exact age was previously mentioned, but it doesn't matter because I don't have the energy to go through the whole fic looking for any mention of his age  
he's 13 now so who cares  
I also feel like this chapter is a little short, but maybe that's just me  
I'be been keeping this rule that the least I will do for one chapter is 3 pages, and this one was roughly 3 and a half   
I dunno :/  
eh  
whatever  
I thought this chappy was p nice  
I'm uploading this at like 11:50 on a friday night with the knowledge that I have to wake up at 7am tomorrow :))))))  
anyway  
yeehaw


	21. Huggie wuggie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mattie tells the time and vanya goes home  
iggy up in here being gay for a frog

Alfred frowned, reaching into his fridge and pulling out the second to last capri sun. He pulled away, giving the capri sun in his hand a regret filled look, and he left the kitchen. He dropped back onto the couch next to Ivan, handed him the juice, and immediately lacing his fingers with Ivan’s again. 

Ivan smiled at him, the hand holding the capri sun attached to an arm wrapped tightly around a pillow that sat in his lap, his legs criss cross applesauce (hehonk). Alfred threw one leg over the other, propping his head up with his elbow pressing into the cushioned armrest. Kiku whispered something in japanese under his breath and slapped his hand around for the remote. 

Matthew sat on the coffee table with his legs crossed, right next to the remote, with a bowl of chips in his lap. He rolled his eyes and slid the remote over to Kiku, who merely hummed in response. It _could_ be taken as a thank you, but Matthew didn’t. Kiku fiddled with the remote before he pressed unpause, and their show continued. 

Currently they were watching some cartoon that Matthew had insisted on, but Alfred couldn’t find it in himself to care. He hadn’t been paying attention to it at all for the first half, and he couldn’t find the energy to pay attention for the second half. All he did was focus on the feeling of Ivan’s hand held tight in his, and the soft sounds of his even breathing beside him. He’d occasionally glance over to check on Ivan, always to find him completely engrossed in the show. Alfred could not relate even the slightest bit.

He felt that, if he didn’t have Ivan by his side to keep him on his toes, then he might’ve fallen asleep by now. This show wasn’t even that interesting. He didn’t even know why Ivan was so intrigued by it, but it wasn’t like he was going to judge. It’s not that he hated the show, it’s just that he found Ivan much more interesting.

He hoped the episode would end soon.

00oo00oo00

“What time is it?” Matthew asked lazily, twirling a strand of hair around his fingers. He lay on his stomach atop the coffee table, legs sprawled out behind him, his cheek resting in his hand. 

“Check for yourself,” Alfred said through a mouthful of chips. He and Ivan sat facing each other on the couch, a bowl of mixed chips between them. Ivan has suggested this arrangement after they had a small fight over who got to hold the chip bowl. 

“Don’t wanna. Too much effort,” Matthew grumbled. He let his head fall out of his hand and down to the table. He swung his legs up into the air behind him. Alfred rolled his eyes, pointing to the clock that hung on the wall on the other side of the room. “It’s right in front of you, buddy.” 

“Yeah, but then I have to do _math_, and I _hate_ math,” Matthew replied, his words muffled. Alfred heard Francis snort. He glanced over, seeing Francis draped dramatically over the chair he sat in. _Someone_ was feeling better.

“Matthew, no one in the right mind likes math. But this time it’s basic math. Telling the time isn’t that hard,” said Ivan. He licked salt from his fingertips, somehow not noticing Alfred piercing stare. 

“Basic math,” agreed Kiku with a nod, though he refused to pull his gaze from the TV. He sat in front of the coffee table, his head resting on the edge and his legs pulled up to his chest as he watched his show. No one else really had a preference, so he’d put on another anime that no one else was even paying attention to. It wasn’t like it mattered. Anime humor never got a laugh out of Alfred anyway. 

“But like. I just. Don’t want to,” Matthew said, pulling his head up and squinting at Alfred. “Just tell me. It’s not that hard.” 

“No,” replied Alfred without hesitation. 

“I think I hate you.”

Alfred snorted. “Thought you said earlier that you just did hate me?”

“Yeah, well, I changed my mind. I might change it again,” Matthew muttered. He narrowed his eyes at the clock, the room falling back into almost silence again. The sound of Kiku’s nameless anime played in the background, melting into nothing to everyone except Kiku. 

Ivan reached down for another chip, munching on it happily and rocking back and forth where he sat. Alfred smiled at him, reaching down for another chip of his own. They ate quietly, the muffled crunching of chips between their teeth made pleasant sounds to Alfred. He crunched louder and louder, moving his jaw exaggeratedly. Ivan giggled, covering his mouth and looking at Alfred with his sparkling eyes. Alfred’s face flushed red.

“It’s 12. It’s around 12. Maybe a little past. I’m not doing any exact calculations. Can’t see that far,” Matthew said with a sigh. He rolled onto his back, casting an annoyed look at Alfred. Alfred looked to him with raised brows.

“You need new glasses,” Alfred commented, stuffing more chips in his mouth. 

“You need to shut up, mr math man,” Matthew shot back. He tucked his hands under his head, arms out in triangles on each side of his body. He wiggled where he lay, whining and groaning as he did so. 

Kiku whipped his head around with a small frown, a big frown for Kiku. “Stop being a worm, I’m trying to watch Umaru,” he hissed. Matthew more or less did a situp, looking at Kiku with wide eyes.

“Umaru-chan?” he whispered. 

“Yes,” Kiku snapped, looking very confused. Matthew nodded his head, laying back down on the table. He swung his arms up into the air, then dropped them over his head. He giggled as his fingertips brushed the ground.

“Her brother is cute,” he said.

“Oh.” Kiku looked to the TV, then back to Matthew. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Matthew, who didn’t seem to have a care in the world. Kiku turned back to his show, his legs being dragged back up to his chest. “He is,” he agreed blankly. 

Alfred raised his brows again, pulling the chip bowl slightly closer to him. Ivan’s eyes were on the TV, so it didn’t seem like he noticed. He shoved a handful of chips into his mouth, wincing as their jagged edges poked the inside of his mouth. It was still worth it, though. Those were some damn good chips. He had just thrust his hand back into the bowl to grab another fistful of these delicious chips when Ivan spoke.

“I think I’d have to agree with them,” he said offhandedly. Alfred’s head shot up, his eyes wide as he stared at Ivan. Ivan kept his eyes on the TV, reaching his hand over for some chips. His hand missed, and he brought his eyes back to Alfred. “Hey, you moved it. We agreed we wouldn’t do that!” he accused, dragging the bowl back to the middle of the couch.

“What,” Alfred deadpanned. Ivan looked up at him, his gaze confused.

“You moved it closer?” he said, uncertain.

“No, the thing about agreeing with them.”

“Oh,” said Ivan, “well, he’s cute. Umaru’s brother, I mean. He’s cute. Don’t you agree?” He gestured to the TV, and Alfred followed his hand. He waited a moment, before another shot of Umaru’s brother appeared. He was cute. But that's besides the point. 

“Well, I guess he is,” Alfred sighed, looking away from the TV. “I guess I just didn’t think you’d say that.” _oops, he hadn’t meant to say that._

“Why not?” asked Ivan, looking to Alfred with his big round eyes of violet hues. Alfred felt his face warm.

“I dunno,” he managed, one hand trailing up to rub at the back of his neck. “I just. I dunno.” 

Ivan hummed, looking back at the TV. “I’m glad you agree, though,” Ivan mumbled. Alfred looked at him, watching his expressions intently. He could’ve sworn he saw pink on Ivan’s cheeks, but he buried his lower face in his scarf before Alfred could be sure. “It would’ve been a little weird if you hadn’t.” 

They both looked away to the TV. Something tingled in the air between them, but it seemed that neither wanted to talk or even think about it. Alfred stayed quiet and forced himself to pay attention to the TV. Sometimes, though, he felt like someone was watching him, and this time he couldn’t tell who it was, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the eyes that were trained to his face were the color of bright, lively violets. 

0oo00oo00

“Guys, I have a special announcement,” said Matthew, “It’s 1 o’clock baby! Wahoo!” he said weakly, his arms shaking in the air. “Jazz hands,” he whispered, stopping his arms and just shaking his hands violently in the air.

“That means I’ll have to go soon,” Ivan mumbled, a frown on his pretty face. Alfred hated that expression. He wanted Ivan to smile, not frown. Frowning was bad, but it wasn’t like it made Ivan’s face less pretty. Ivan was perfect no matter what he did. At least, that was how Alfred felt currently. 

“I can’t believe we spent an hour watching any anime that Kiku put on,” muttered Francis, his face smushed against the armrest of his chair that he insisted upon laying across. He looked exhausted. Honestly, Alfred felt the same way. He felt like he was going to pass out. This whole sleepover idea had been cool and all, but it was so tiring being this close to Ivan at all times. He was a little sad and relieved that Ivan would be going home.

“I guess I’ll go grab my stuff,” Ivan said. He dropped his legs off the couch, rubbing at his pants and looking like a lost puppy. Alfred found himself thinking that Ivan’s little expressions might be one of his favorite things about the boy. Those and all Ivan’s pale parts. Really, everything about Ivan was his favorite. 

Ivan tugged at the hem of his red sweater, then yanked at his scarf. He inhaled deeply, and stood. He marched over to the basement door without another word. Alfred watched him do so, his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees. He smiled faintly as Ivan’s scarf flittered in the air, floating down the steps behind Ivan. It was the last bit of the pale boy he saw before Ivan completely disappeared down the stairs. 

Kiku turned off the anime he’d put on, standing up to follow Ivan. He waved at the twins who stayed still where they were. Francis got up last, his steps slow and his arms hanging limp by his sides. He yawned and ignored the brothers, just walking over to the basement and descending the stairs. 

The two remaining boys stayed silent for a moment before Matthew spoke up.

“So I saw you and Ivan holding hands earlier,” he started with a smile. Alfred groaned, rolling his eyes and averting Matthew’s gaze. He knew his face was red, he could feel the heat. “What was that all about?” Matthew pushed, sitting up off the coffee table and grinning at his brother.

“Please shut up,” Alfred mumbled, head now in his hands. 

“Oh, come on! I’m the first person who you told your crush about! You have to keep me updated,” Matthew protested. He swung his legs over the table, then stood. He sat beside Alfred, throwing an arm around his shoulder. “Tell me!” he whined in Alfred’s ear.

Alfred barely reacted, only bringing his hands away from his face slightly so he could glare at Matthew from the corner of his eye. 

“Why are you being so stubborn,” Matthew huffed. 

“Because it’s embarrassing,” Alfred replied, annoyed. 

“Please? You know I can keep a secret.”

“I know you can, but that’s not it. It’s just embarrassing!” 

Matthew placed his hands on Alfred’s shoulders, then shook him back and forth. Matthew continued begging and begging. Alfred groaned, yanked his hands away from his face, and scowled at Matthew.

“Fine! I’ll tell you!” he barked, his face flushed red. 

“Yay,” Matthew grinned. Alfred rolled his eyes, letting his shoulders droop and his head hang. He paused a moment to collect himself and drained the redness from his face. He hated looking this embarrassed over something so little. Or, maybe not little, but still fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He took a deep breath, then brought his head back up. 

“Okay, so basically what happened was we were sitting next to each other and his hand was just sort of _there_, so I thought to myself ‘oh, heehee, maybe his hands are cold’ and then that sparked this really annoying train of thought that, boiled down to its most basic level, was just ‘hold his hand.’ So I did! And like, he didn’t really mind? I don’t think he understands what holding hands means,” Alfred said, his words coming out quick and mushed together, just a puddle of letters and sentences that Alfred hoped wouldn’t be so jumbled up that Matthew couldn’t understand it. His last sentence came out disappointed and tired.

Matthew looked at him with raised brows. Alfred looked away, the redness coming back tenfold, pooling in his cheeks and staining most of his face red. Matthew let out a quick laugh, silencing himself before he spoke again.

“Yeah, I don’t think he knows either. But! It’s still progress,” he grinned. Alfred let out a small huff of laughter and shook his head. He opened his mouth to speak, but silenced himself as he heard the thundering of multiple sets of feet marching up the stairs. He looked up, greeted warmly by Ivan’s bright smile.

00oo00oo00

Alfred tapped his toe against the ground, looking around boredly. He stood in wait by the front door. Kiku and Francis had already left, but Ivan had to use the bathroom, so Alfred was waiting to walk him home. He rocked on his heels, looking down at his bright red sneakers. He smiled fondly at them.

“I’m ready!” Ivan sang, running up to the front door, his bag hanging off his shoulder. Alfred looked up at him, the smile never leaving his face. He turned to the door, opening it for Ivan.

“Let’s go then,” he said warmly. Ivan grinned at him and skipped through the door. Alfred chuckled, following close behind. He closed the door behind him, glancing back to make sure it was shut all the way. When he looked back to Ivan he found the boy rocking impatiently on his heels in front of him, broad smile plastered across his face. 

“Hurry up, it’s just a door. It can’t take that long to close,” Ivan whined. Alfred smiled, raising a brow as he tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

“You didn’t have to wait. You could’ve just gone ahead and I would’ve caught up,” said Alfred coolly. Ivan shrugged, turning and running off down Alfred’s driveway. Alfred jogged after him with a soft smile.

“That wouldn’t have been nice,” Ivan finally replied, twirling some hair around his fingers. He swung his arm out, watching it fall back down. He jumped up, then came back down, the heels of his boots clicking loudly against the asphalt beneath their feet. He giggled to himself, moving his legs exaggeratedly and stomping his feet down to continue making the noise. 

Alfred watched from beside him, hands still stuffed into his pockets. He laughed softly as Ivan kept up his strange way of walking. He truly did not understand why Ivan was so pleased by the noise his boots made against the ground, but he found it cute to see Ivan be so happy about something so silly. Eventually Ivan stopped stomping, deciding instead to just walk by swinging his legs out far in front of him as he stepped.

They walked in comfortable silence for a minute or two, heading slowly to Ivan’s house. Alfred felt sort of like he was babysitting Ivan as he watched his pale companion walk as exaggeratedly as possible. He just couldn’t get over how cute Ivan was. It was like Ivan was trying to shove it in his face, walking the way he was with his lanky legs stretching out, taking wobbly steps. Occasionally Ivan would let out a squeak, on the verge of falling because of a particularly unstable step. Of course, Alfred would laugh. Then Ivan would giggle and stick his tongue out at him, another adorable thing Ivan just kept thrusting into Alfred’s head. Another cute little habit that would seep into Alfred’s mind for him to think about before he went to bed.

They arrived at Ivan’s house all too soon. Alfred wished he could walk with his silly Ivan forever, watching him and his antics, like the walking or the stomping or whatever else Ivan would come up with. They stopped, standing side by side in front of Ivan’s driveway. 

Alfred stared blankly at the sunflowers around Ivan’s house, thinking about Ivan. Ivan looked at the ground, stared at his shifting feet in his shiny black boots. He smiled to himself, then jumped over onto the pavement of his driveway. He let out a high pitched giggle at the sound his heels made against the pavement. 

“I think I like this sound better,” Ivan said cheerfully, lifting a leg up to bring it back down as hard as he could. He and Alfred laughed together. 

“I think I like it better too,” Alfred agreed with a happy sigh. 

They stood again in silence for a moment, Ivan again looking down at his shifting feet and Alfred looking at him. Alfred smiled at him, studying Ivan’s features. He loved everything about him, he realized. Everything about him was perfect. It was a shame they were saying goodbye. He was glad he'd get to see him tomorrow, though, but that wouldn’t change the fact that Mondays sucked. It would just make it better. Ivan made everything better.

Alfred hadn’t noticed that Ivan had looked up.

“I guess this is goodbye. At least until tomorrow,” said Ivan with a smile. Alfred grinned back, his hands curling into fists in his pockets. 

“Yep,” he agreed. He looked past Ivan to his house, staring at the grey door with it’s black doorknob. He looked back to Ivan and his pretty eyes. He noticed Ivan had his arms open now.

“Can I have a hug?” Ivan said quietly, his expression shy like his voice and his gaze. His violet eyes sparkled, wet in the sunlight. Alfred wanted to describe them as big doe eyes, but Ivan’s eyes weren’t brown. 

“Of course,” Alfred replied without hesitation. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Ivan, relishing in the feeling of Ivan’s arms slowly wrapping around his upper body. Ivan had, for a long time, been taller than Alfred. But, now it seemed that Alfred had grown. They were about the same height now, maybe a centimeter separating them, but Alfred was fairly certain that, at this point, he was taller. And he liked it that way.

Ivan tucked his head down, pressing his cheek to Alfred’s chest. Alfred felt his heart flutter and desperately hoped Ivan wouldn’t notice his heart beating faster, because it definitely was. 

They stayed like that for a moment, silent and basking in the warm embrace of one another. Alfred wondered why Ivan had asked for a hug, but it wasn’t like he was complaining. In fact, he’d been wanting to hold Ivan like this ever since the first time they hugged. He’d missed the feeling of Ivan close to him, listening to the sound of Ivan’s soft breaths and feeling his silky hair against his skin. Alfred let his eyes slip closed for a second. 

Then, it ended all too soon with Ivan slowly wiggling out of Alfred’s arms. Alfred hated to let him go, but he did so the second Ivan gave any sort of movement indicating he wanted to move away. 

Ivan stood before him, face painted a soft pink, pale hands playing with his scarf tails. Alfred watched him do so, smiling to himself as an idea emerged. Alfred leaned forward, grabbing Ivan’s scarf tails and slowly unwinding it from his neck. Ivan looked at him with wide eyes, but made no move to stop him.

Ivan’s scarf hung limply around his neck, now only two tails, just a line of fabric around his neck. Alfred grabbed the scarf again, swiftly tying it into a bow. Ivan watched him with a small smile. When Alfred finished, he pulled back, admiring his work with a grin. Ivan looked down at the bow, bringing his hands up to cup parts of it and tug gently on them. He looked back up at Alfred, pink lips stretched into a smile. 

“The classic bow. It’s one of your best looks,” Alfred said, shoving his hands back into his pockets. Ivan giggled, digging the toe of his boot into the ground and swinging his heel gently back and forth. He looked cute like this, his face flushed, his hands playing with bow in his scarf, his foot swinging. Bashful. A bashful little boy. Alfred absolutely _loved_ it. 

“Goodbye Alfred,” Ivan mumbled with a soft smile. His violet eyes looked up at Alfred expectantly, and Alfred blushed, his face growing redder and redder.

“Later, Ivan,” Alfred replied. Ivan grinned along with Alfred, and soon the boy turned around and skipped up his driveway to his front door. Alfred stayed still, watching Ivan disappear into his house. When Ivan was finally gone, Alfred let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. He gave a quiet chuckle, turning to walk back to his house. 

About halfway through his walk, his phone buzzed in the pocket of his jeans. He fished it out, raising a brow at the sender of the text he’d received. It was from Arthur.

_**Arthur: **hey slut, any idea where froggy has been? he won’t return any of my texts_

Alfred snickered, smirking and quickly typing his reply.

_ _

_**Alfred:** why do you care? I thought you hated him_

_**Arthur:** I do hate him, it’s just that sometimes I hate him less and now is one of those times_

_**Alfred:** oh? Is that so?_

_**Arthur:** yes, now shut up and tell me what’s wrong with him_

_**Arthur:** he’s been hyperfocusing on Ivan and it’s getting really annoying_

_**Alfred:** are you jealous or something?_

_**Arthur: **does it matter_

_**Alfred:** you’re not denying it _

_**Arthur: **can you please just be helpful for once in your sorry excuse for a life_

_**Arthur: **tell me what’s wrong with him_

_**Arthur: i**s he in love or something_

_**Alfred: **me and mattie are like 90% sure that he’s not in love with Ivan so don’t worry you still have a chance to win his heart_

_**Arthur: **I hate you_

_**Alfred: **I’m just kidding dude please don’t leave Ivan just left and I have nothing to do anymore _

_**Arthur:** I’m not going to be here just to entertain you_

_**Arthur: **I asked a question and I’m still waiting for a straight answer_

_**Alfred:** fine, party pooper_

_**Alfred:** he just left my house like 10 minutes ago after being a huge dick for over 24 hours, so he should be returning your texts soon_

_**Arthur:** what the hell was he doing at your house_

_**Alfred:** me and the boys had a sleepover :)))_

_**Arthur:** and, naturally, you didn’t invite me_

_**Alfred:** Francis was there and I didn’t want you two fighting all the time in front of vanya :((((_

_**Arthur:** whore_

_**Alfred:** k lol_

_**Alfred:** I think I’m gonna go now haha ;))))))_

_**Arthur:** wait I need your opinion on something_

_**Alfred:** sugar, what the hell do you wanttt_

_**Arthur:** how much longer do you think this whole Ivan fixation is going to last? He’s not paying any attention to me anymore and I hate it_

_**Alfred:** honey_

_**Alfred:** w h a t_

_**Alfred:** you’re telling me you want him to pay attention to you_

_**Arthur: **goodbye Alfred _

_**Alfred:** iggy wait no please u gotta explain urself im literally using u so i can send this faster iggy please_

Alfred stared at his phone, groaning as he saw his latest message stated simply sent instead of seen. He rolled his eyes, and stuffed his phone back into his pocket. He chewed his lip, finding himself standing before his driveway. He marched up to his door, a sly grin spreading onto his face. 

He couldn’t wait to tell Matthew about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate telling the time, and math, and I love umaru's older brother, so I just made Mattie me in this chapter because I wanted to and I don't know why  
umaru's brother is adorable and I love him so very much (it's been forever since I've seen the show tho)  
it's like, if I could pet him, I'd pet him  
I wanna hold his hand, y'know?  
sidenote, I need new chapstick because I destroyed mine in second period on Thursday  
I found a purple sharpie on the ground yesterday and purple is the best color so hehehehehh I win  
I'm writing this other weird little thing that is just kinda like ????  
so uh  
y'know  
I've had this little idea with Arthur stewing in my poor little pea brain for a while, and I've been really excited to write it even though now that I have I feel a little like it's not that exciting but like we all need at little more fruk in out lives, yea? not really because it's everywhere but who cares  
here's a song recommendation because I like it: monster by dodie  
it's really good, but I think it might be kinda popular? I dunno  
anyway  
yeehaw


	22. mmmm book

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alfred ig

The door swung open, Alfred announcing loudly that he was home. Matthew looked up from the book he had in his hands, still on the couch where he’d been when Alfred left. Alfred kicked off his shoes and walked to the living room. He grabbed the edge of the wall as he gave Matthew a lazy wave in greeting. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the book Matthew was reading.

“Hey Al,” Matthew said, staring blankly at his brother.

“Is that the book Ivan gave me?” Alfred asked, pointing to the book in Matthew’s hands. Matthew looked down at the pages, looking like he hadn't even known the book was there. He looked back to Alfred, maintaining his emotionless expression.

“Do you even know the name of it?” Matthew asked with one raised brow.

“I might not remember the title but it’s still my book, Matt. Give it back.” Matthew frowned slightly, cocking his head to the side.

“And why should I do that?”

Alfred groaned. “I feel like it’s pretty obvious, Matt. For starters, I need to get further into the book so I can be caught up with Ivan and then we can finish it sooner so we won’t fail this stupid project. Second…” Alfred paused. He didn’t have a second reason.

“Second?” Matthew pushed, a smirk finding its way onto his face. Alfred sighed.

“C’mon man, just gimme the book.”

“No.”

Alfred groaned again, louder this time. He considered yelling for his mom, but that would be childish. He decided to go for another tactic.

“I was gonna tell you about something that happened with Arthur, but now that you’re being a total douche, I don’t know if I can,” Alfred said with a shake of his head. “And it was some real interesting stuff too.” It wasn’t that interesting, to be honest. But Alfred didn’t care all that much, he figured this was a good cause, and he could stretch the truth a bit. Matthew sat up straighter, his eyes wider. He was clearly intrigued. 

“Juicy gossip?” he asked.

Alfred nodded, “Juicy gossip indeed.” Matthew smiled and closed the book. Alfred was relieved to see that Matthew had left his and Ivan’s bookmarks alone (he also thought to himself that he should get an actual bookmark instead of his scrap of paper. Maybe Ivan had one he could borrow?). 

“Here’s your book,” Matthew said, offering the book to Alfred. Alfred walked swiftly over and snatched the book from Matthew’s hands. “Now,” Matthew began, patting the cushion next to him, “tell me about this thing with Arthur.” Alfred sighed and sat down next to his brother, pushing his glasses up his nose and turning to face Matthew.

“I might have lied a little about how interesting it was.” Alfred decided to come clean right off the bat. Matthew looked slightly disappointed, showing it on his face with the slight pout that formed, but he nodded for Alfred to continue. “I was walking home after I dropped Ivan off-” 

“Ooooh! Speaking of that, did anything interesting happen?” Matthew jumped in, looking eager for a response.

Alfred scowled and blushed, “I’ll get to that later, let me finish.” Matthew shrugged and sat back against the couch. Alfred wondered briefly where the cats were, as they seemed to have been with him all the time for the past couple of days, but it didn’t really matter. He continued. 

“So I was walking back, and maybe about halfway through? Or maybe a third? Doesn’t matter. So I got a text from Arthur.” Matthew looked somewhat more eager now that Alfred was telling the story. He went quickly through the story, and after Matthew made him show the texts. Matthew sat silently for a moment, presumably processing the information and trying to form a likely conclusion. He crossed his legs and hummed to himself. Alfred rolled his eyes. He stood up and looked down at his brother. Matthew looked up with raised brows.

“You can blab about your ideas of what Arthur’s behavior means later, alright? I’m gonna go read. Later dude,” Alfred said, not even waiting for a response before he was making his way to the stairs.

“Oh, bye,” Matthew replied with a wave that Alfred didn’t see, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have returned it.

Alfred trudged up the stairs, glancing down at the book in his hand. He smiled to himself, staring at Ivan’s cutesy bookmark. Ivan was a fan of cats, it seemed. Or maybe all the cutest stuff he could find was cat themed. Who knew? Alfred reached the top of the stairs and scurried to his room. He locked the door so Matthew wouldn’t come barging in, even though it was technically also his room. Matthew wasn’t allowed in right now. Right now was Alfred’s quiet time to read. If Matthew was bored he could go play a video game or something. It didn’t matter to Alfred.

He sighed and flopped down onto his bed, laying on his stomach, his cheek pressed against the puffy blankets. He hated that it was getting colder. He wouldn’t be able to take Ivan to the creek anymore. He got lucky yesterday. Or maybe he could still bring Ivan down there, but it would just be them poking at ice and the cold water. Maybe Ivan would find that fun. He was such a strange kid.

Alfred turned his head, whining as he pressed his face against the blankets to do so. He was sure he smudged his glasses. He was frowning slightly when his face emerged again, his other cheek now smushed against the bed. He looked at his arm stretched out and the book that Alfred’s fingertips were just barely brushing against.  _ Wildwood _ . It was pretty good so far. He guessed his favorite character was Curtis, but that could always change. He grabbed the book and sat up. He placed it in his lap and looked up, turning his head to look at Matthew’s bed.

He sort of wished they had separate rooms sometimes. They were just fine sharing a room, they got along just fine, they annoyed each other sometimes, but that was to be expected with any pair of siblings, especially ones sharing a room. Alfred had his space, and Matthew had his. But sometimes Alfred wished he had his own space that was even bigger and had absolutely zero influence from his brother. They  _ did  _ have that spare room, so he could always ask his mom if they could split up, and Alfred was sure she would be fine with it, but should he? It would be a lot of work to move all his stuff, and he wasn’t sure if he had the energy for that right now. He wasn’t sure if any of them had the energy for it.

But, it would be nice to show Ivan his room. His own room, without Matthew’s things to distract from Alfred’s space. It would be nice and more private. There would be a lot less of a chance for Matthew to walk in needing something because it wasn’t his room anymore. Plus, he would feel weird if he and Ivan kissed or something and Matthew’s things were all right there. It would just feel wrong. Alfred flushed and clutched the book to his chest. He bit his lip.

He figured he could ask his mom about having his own room tonight at dinner.

00oo00oo00

Alfred jumped slightly as someone knocked on the door. 

“Alfred, dinner time!” Matthew called from the other side. 

“Coming!” Alfred called back, slipping his bookmark into the pages. He closed the book and smiled to himself about the progress he’d made. He realized he still had his scrap of paper bookmark. He leaned over to his nightstand and opened the top drawer, searching around to see if he actually had a proper bookmark. He frowned when he saw he didn’t, and closed the drawer. He glanced back to his book, and figured he would have to end up asking Ivan if he had one. He reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out, staring at the dark screen.

He dropped the phone onto his bed and stood up, making his way out of the room and down the stairs. He would ask Ivan after dinner. He walked to the dining room, grinning as he saw his dinner. It was hamburgers and (thanks to the fryer a relative had gifted them a few months ago) french fries. Alfred walked over to the counter where his brother stood assembling his own burger. He grabbed a paper plate and dropped some buns onto it. He quickly put together his burger, thanking the gods as he saw his mother had cooked some bacon (he made sure to put extra). He also grabbed a fistful of fries, wincing slightly as he found they were still pretty hot.

“Can I have a coke?” he asked, placing his plate in front of his seat. His mom looked up from her burger (already half finished at this point), ketchup smeared on the corners of her mouth.

“Sure thing kiddo,” She grinned, offering a thumbs up before she continued devouring her burger. That’s where Alfred got his appetite from. Alfred grinned and turned to the fridge, grabbing a can of cola and rushing back to his seat. He was famished. Matthew sat down last, his burger considerably smaller than his mother and brother’s. He had a glass of milk instead of a soda. He ate slower than Alfred (but then again who didn’t), but still at a pace that some might consider fast. Faster than he usually ate, actually. He must be pretty hungry too.

Halfway through his food Alfred remembered what he wanted to ask his mother. He set his burger down and wiped his mouth, taking a quick swig of his soda before he turned to his mom, who was currently wolfing down her fries and looking like she was in heaven while doing it.

“Hey mom,” Alfred started, grabbing her attention, “I was wondering if maybe Matt and I could get separate rooms.” Matthew looked up from his food, looking mostly passive but somewhat surprised.

“What’s brought this on?” his mother asked. She bit into another fry, chewing it for a few seconds before shoving the rest of it into her mouth.

“I dunno,” Alfred said with a shrug. “I guess I just think it’d be nice to really have my own space. I’m sure Matthew won’t have a problem with it, right?” He looked hopefully up at his twin. Matthew shrugged.

“I don’t really care, though I do have to agree with Al. having a space all to myself would be rad.” Their mom looked at Matthew blankly in thought, mindlessly stuffing more fries into her mouth. She chewed slowly as she considered the thought. She smiled and turned back to Alfred.

“I guess I don’t see why not. Sure, we can go ahead and start moving your stuff into the guest room tomorrow evening. All of us will be helping, of course. You could even invite over a friend or two to help! You do have quite a lot of stuff, someone who could move even small things would help,” She said cheerfully, flashing Alfred a grin. 

“Thanks mom!” Alfred beamed. He went back to eating, though this time more distracted than before. He wasn’t paying too much attention to his surroundings anymore, sort of just going on autopilot as he began thinking about Ivan. He and Ivan were doing a lot together lately, maybe he could ask Ivan to come over and help move his things? He finished his food quickly, cleaning his place up and excusing himself. He went back to his room, dropping down onto his bed with a sigh.

Alfred looked over at his phone. He grabbed it and checked the time. It was only a little bit past 6pm. He smiled and unlocked the phone, going immediately to text Ivan. He hesitated for a moment, thinking over how he should greet Ivan. He shook himself and greeted Ivan the way he would normally.

** _Alfred: _ ** _ hey :)) _

Alfred bit his lip as he waited for a response. He held his phone close to his face, sitting back on his bed and laying against his pillows. He rolled to the side and stared at Tony. he punched the alien in the stomach, not exactly knowing why he wanted to. He guessed it did sort of help to relieve his stress. Two minutes later he got a response:

** _Ivan: _ ** _ hello! _

** _Ivan: _ ** _ what’s up? _

Alfred grinned, rolling away from Tony and sitting himself up more against the pillows. He still wore his bomber jacket, and he buried himself inside it.

** _Alfred: _ ** _ nothing really, just wanted to ask you some things and chat _

** _Ivan: _ ** _ go ahead :) _

** _Alfred: _ ** _ first off do you have any other bookmarks cuz i don't have one and I wanna stop using the scrap of paper ive been using _

** _Ivan: _ ** _ of course, but I’m not sure if you’ll like any of them all that much _

** _Alfred: _ ** _ im sure it'll be fine, just bring em tomorrow and i’ll pick one _

** _Ivan:_ ** _ alright _

** _Ivan: _ ** _ what else did you want to ask me? _

Alfred paused, frowning slightly. Did he really want Ivan to help move his stuff? He was making Ivan very involved in his life recently and making him do a lot of stuff with Alfred. Would Ivan even want to hang out tomorrow? Would he want to move Alfred’s things from one room to another? Should he really even be asking this of Ivan? But, he did really want Ivan to come over. He supposed he could ask, but ask it in a way that seemed very passive, so Ivan was welcome to decline if he wanted. He thought a moment about how he should phrase it.

** _Alfred: _ ** _ me and mattie are getting separate rooms and i was wondering if youd like to come over and help move my some of my stuff _

** _Alfred: _ ** _ you wouldn't have to do too much, and you don't have to come if you don't want to, but i think it might be fun to hang out more _

** _Ivan: _ ** _ I’d love to! That sounds great :) _

** _Ivan: _ ** _ plus, I’ll be getting a tour of the top floor of your house, because I didn’t get to have one the last time you tried giving me a tour _

Alfred flushed at the memory.

** _Alfred: _ ** _ sorry about that btw, i really didn't mean to _

** _Ivan: _ ** _ it’s fine, really _

** _Ivan:_ ** _ Anyway, did you read any more of wildwood? _

Alfred grinned, typing his response quickly. Ivan was proud of him for getting as far as he had in the past few days, and it made Alfred feel good. He felt even better knowing Ivan was coming over tomorrow, and he seemed eager! Ivan was eager to hang out with him. It made Alfred feel fuzzy and it made his cheeks warm to think about. He wanted to hug Ivan like he had earlier today. He wanted to snuggle and cuddle him and squish his chubby cheeks. 

The two kept texting for a while, talking about the book and food and just random banter. Matthew walked into the room at some point and had Alfred send a few messages to Ivan for him. It was fun, and Alfred felt like he could talk to Ivan like this for hours, though it would be nice to talk directly to Ivan instead of over text. 

It was around 8pm when Ivan said he had to go. He said he was going to take a shower and head to bed because he didn't want to be exhausted tomorrow morning. Alfred figured he should do the same, and they said goodbye. Alfred sat silently on his bed for a few minutes, staring at the last message Ivan sent him. Matthew was typing an essay on his school computer and had stopped paying attention to his brother a while ago. Alfred could not believe he’d just sat here and done nothing but talk to Ivan for 2 hours. He knew he could have gone for longer. He felt somewhat sad now that he wasn't having a conversation with Ivan, but it was for the sake of Ivan’s sleep schedule.

Alfred turned his phone off and plugged it in, resting it on his nightstand. He walked over to the closet and got his pajamas. He turned to Matthew, watching his brother type, the sound of the keys on Matthew’s keyboard clicking and clacking as he typed with quick fingers filling the room.

“I’m gonna take a shower,” Alfred said. Matthew hummed in response, pausing his typing momentarily as he switched tabs to take another look at some information he had pulled up for the topic of his essay. He switched back and the typing resumed. Alfred left the room and entered the bathroom. He turned the shower on and dropped his folded clothes onto the toilet lid. He stood in front of the mirror as the water heated up and the mirror fogged up. As he undressed and got into the shower he thought about how excited he was to see Ivan tomorrow, and he wondered if Ivan was just like him right now, feeling excited and antsy as he waited for tomorrow to see Alfred, even though they’d seen each other not too long ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! im so sorry that its been a while since ive updated, but I really truly found myself stuck in a place where I could find zero motivation for this, and its been even harder recently with all the stuff going on in the world recently, but now I have so much free time, and ive been thinking more about hetalia and stuff so I will be trying to update this more often and keep writing because I really love doing this! it just gets to be too much for me sometimes I really I am to try to make sure that this doesn't get left unfinished   
I hope you liked the chapter!! I am excited to write more and I really hope I can update more often :)


	23. mornin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hflkshaj poptart yummm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nya

Alfred shivered as he stepped outside. It was always fairly cold in the mornings, especially when it was so early, but now, it was getting even colder. Alfred didn’t have too much of a problem with winter, but really, if the winter months were replaced with summer months, he would not have a problem. He was at least grateful for the warmth the poptart in his hand (cookies and crème) provided. Matthew walked out the door behind him, closing and locking it, his own poptart in hand (brown sugar cinnamon). 

Alfred speed walked down the driveway, hoping that moving his body quickly would help warm him up. He could see his breath in the air in front of him! This was outrageous, how could the school allow kids to go outside when it was this cold? A two hour delay would solve this problem. Everyone would be happy with that. Alfred sure would be. He could sleep in later than usual on a school day, and it wouldn't be so cold out when he left for the bus stop. Maybe his mom would even cook them breakfast. That would be nice. 

Alfred arrived at the bus stop before Matthew, which didn’t surprise anyone, and it never would, but it wasn't uncommon for them to arrive at the same time either. Alfred was surprised to find Ivan already there, rocking on his heels and humming to himself. Of course he was right by his sisters, Natalia noticeably closer than Katya. Alfred noticed he had a lunchbox today. It was made to look like a ladybug, shaped mostly like a paper bag, the flap that closed it black with big felt eyes and antennae that hung forward and swayed slightly as Ivan rocked. The rest of the bag was red with black spots, just like a ladybug. It wasn't what Alfred would have expected Ivan to have, but it was still cute.

Alfred decided he wanted to talk to Ivan. He’d already known that earlier, but seeing Ivan here right now just solidified that in his mind. As he walked up to the boy, he examined his clothes today. 

His scarf was tied up in a bow again today, the bow behind his head, the tails trailed down like they would normally. It made Alfred smile to see the bow, it made him think about yesterday, with the hug and the bow and the texts, and he really really wanted to grab Ivan and crush him in the tightest hug he’d ever given anyone. Maybe even just holding Ivan’s hand would fulfill his need to be nice and close to the boy. His sweater was light blue, maybe baby blue, but Alfred wasn’t too sure on that one. His pants were black, seemingly leggings, which Alfred hoped were thicker than regular leggings, because damn it was cold. His boots were the same black boots Alfred had seen yesterday. He’d seen them a lot recently, actually. Maybe they were Ivan’s favorite pair?

“Mornin Ivan,” Alfred greeted, waving to his friend and biting into his poptart. It already had a few bites taken out of it. 

Ivan looked up, looking somewhat surprised. Maybe he still wasn’t used to Alfred being his friend yet. Alfred sure had gotten used to being Ivan’s friend. He was just eager to be close to Ivan. He was, at this point, lowkey obsessed with Ivan. He just thought Ivan was so cute and sweet and precious, which, depending on who you ask, was true. This obsession was classified as a crush (as you all know), but it made Alfred weirdly flustered to call it that, even though he was fully aware it was true.

“Good morning!” Ivan replied, now smiling brightly at Alfred. Alfred’s face colored, and he smiled back. Being near Ivan made him giddy, he thought. 

“You packed lunch today?” Alfred asked through a mouthful if poptart. He pointed at Ivan’s lunchbox. Ivan looked down at his bag and flushed slightly, tightening his grip on the bag’s handle. 

“Well, yes, I suppose. Natalia woke up early to pack a lunch for me. She likes to do that sometimes,” Ivan said, shifting his weight from foot to foot. 

“Oh,” Alfred mumbled, “that’s nice of her.”

“I suppose,” Ivan muttered. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself. Alfred took another bite of his breakfast and thought about how he could further the conversation. He watched Ivan shift and toy with the antennae of the ladybug lunchbox. It really was a cute lunchbox, but it did look a little small.

“She can fit a whole lunch in there?” Alfred hummed. He wiped crumbs from the corners of his mouth. Ivan looked down at the lunchbox, then back up at Alfred. He smiled and looked away again.

“Yes, it is sometimes a tight fit, but Nat has gotten better at fitting all the food inside,” Ivan said with a small nod. “Though, I do feel a little bad.”

Alfred cocked his head to the side. “Why is that?”

“Well, she’s gotten all this practice with putting the food in the right way because of how many times she’s woken up early to make me lunch. I never asked her to do that, and it is quite sweet of her, but I just… I feel bad that she’s waking up earlier than everyone else. She must be tired. I want her to get enough sleep instead of putting all this effort into making me lunch,” Ivan sighed. He avoided Alfred’s eyes. 

Alfred glanced over to Natalia. She was in the middle of a mostly one sided conversation with her sister, but it didn’t seem like she’d been paying all that much attention to her brother, which was a rare sight. He looked back at Ivan, examining his flustered and nervous expression.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Alfred said. “I don’t think you should feel bad. It’s her choice. Knowing her, it probably makes her more happy than waking up later than she did. But, if you are worried about her, you could always suggest she make it the night before. But really, I think it’s fine. You shouldn’t worry all that much.”

“I guess not,” Ivan replied, looking at Alfred with wide eyes. Alfred nodded and took another chunk out of his food. He was almost done with it at this point. He could hear the bus coming. He looked at Ivan intently. Oh! Ivan had those bookmarks for him!

“Do you wanna sit with me on the bus?” Alfred asked calmly. He was putting a lot of effort into delivering his words smoothly. He could feel his cheeks heating up, but he hoped it wouldn’t be too noticeable.

“Oh, sure!” Ivan replied cheerfully. “We can talk more about Wildwood, and I’ve got some bookmarks to show you.” He grinned at Alfred. His lunchbox swung at his side now, the hand not holding tight to the bag’s strap raised up to tug at his scarf just for the fun of it.

Alfred smiled and nodded, stuffing his empty hand into the pocket of his jeans. He finished off his poptart, turning to face the bus stop as the bus rolled up. Ivan ran up next to him as he walked to the bus. The kids climbed onto the bus, and Ivan reached down and grabbed Alfred’s hand. Alfred looked down, surprised, face flushed pink. His eyes locked onto their intertwined hands. He looked back up at Ivan. He was greeted with a huge smile, and Ivan’s sparkling eyes. He supposed Ivan considered it more… platonic hand holding. Not exactly Alfred’s goal, but they were getting there.

He smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a bit shorter, but that's just cuz I couldn't bring myself to just make it a part of a larger chapter. the way I ended it just seemed so much like the ending of a chapter, and I figured its okay to make this one shorter because its my fic and the next chapter will be longer  
at this point I think the upload schedule will just be whenever I want to upload, though hopefully i'll be able to do it at least once a week, but my sense of time is all wonky and I never have any idea what day it is so I might not be able to  
thanks to everyone who leaves comments! I never actually reply to them because im way too nervous to interact with anyone online, but I really would like to, so leave a comment if you want and maybe one day i'll work up the courage to respond!  
I hope you liked the chapter despite how short it was :)  
(cookies and crème poptarts are the best flavor btw)

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that everyone likes it :)  
also when I use any other language its just gonna be google translate because i have nothing else so just like never trust me please  
gonna be honest with you im still in middle school forgive my mistakes  
i welcome criticism because my friend that reads my stuff for me is too nice to tell me if its bad


End file.
